EU demands immediate release of Freedom Day detainees

"We demand an immediate and unconditional release of all those detained during a peaceful demonstration", EU Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement today in respond to the violent crack down on the opposition action on March 25 in Minsk. "It is absolutely unacceptable to detain and beat up peaceful demonstrators and journalists. Such actions run in conflict with the fundamental values like the freedoms of speech and assembly", she stressed.


"I am even more alarmed by yesterday's events, as we could recently observe certain positive steps by the Belarusian authorities, including the release of five out of six political prisoners and the opening of the European Commission's office in Minsk", Ferrero-Waldner said.


She stressed that the Belarusian authorities "should demonstrate their further strive for cooperation". "The final release of all political prisoners, including Alexander Kozulin, and stopping to persecute the civil society are those certain measures which will allow us to step on the path of normalizing our relations", the EU top official said.

Belapan