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03 June 2005

Conviction of Belarus Opposition Figures "Outrageous," Says U.S.

State Department calls on Belarus authorities to release political prisoners

The State Department has termed “outrageous” the May 31 conviction and sentencing of Belarusian opposition leaders Nikolai Statkevich and Pavel Severinets.

“The United States is very disturbed by the Government of Belarus' persistent abuse of the legal system to suppress peaceful dissents and to prevent Belarusians from exercising internationally recognized human rights,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in a statement released June 2.

After naming a number of prominent Belarusians who have been imprisoned by the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko for expressing dissent, McCormack called on the Belarusian authorities “to release all political prisoners and to take immediate steps to uphold their international human rights commitments.”

Following is the text of the statement:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
June 2, 2005

Statement by Sean McCormack, Spokesman

CONVICTION OF BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION FIGURES

On May 31, a Belarusian court convicted opposition leaders Nikolai Statkevich and Pavel Severinets of "violating public order" and sentenced them to three years of compulsory labor that they are to perform outside of prison.  Both the sentence and the charge are outrageous.  Statkevich and Severinets already served prison sentences in connection with the same peaceful demonstration against last year's fraudulent parliamentary elections and referendum eliminating presidential term limits.

The United States is very disturbed by the Government of Belarus' persistent abuse of the legal system to suppress peaceful dissents and to prevent Belarusians from exercising internationally recognized human rights.  The number of prominent Belarusians who have been imprisoned for expressing dissent with the Lukashenko regime continues to increase, and includes Mikhail Marinich, Valeriy Levonevsky, Aleksandr Vasilyev, Sergey Skrebets, and Andrey Klimov.   Such repression is an assault on democracy and the Belarusian people, and is in flagrant contravention of Belarus' OSCE commitments.

We call on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners and to take immediate steps to uphold their international human rights commitments.  The people of Belarus deserve nothing less.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)