Belarus human rights activist, Ales Belyatsky freed from jail

The European Union and the United States have welcomed the unexpected release of prominent Belarus rights activist Ales Belyatsky, while urging the government to free other political prisoners as well.









Belyatsky had been imprisoned since 2011 as part of President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on the beleaguered opposition. Immediately upon arriving in the capital Minsk from his high-security penal colony on Saturday, the 51-year-old rights campaigner pledged to press ahead with his work that has rattled the authorities for years.
“I will do what I was doing before,” said the shaven-headed activist, dressed in a black T-shirt and black jacket.





“I’ve been released thanks to the solidarity and support of the entire global community,” he told several dozen supporters who greeted him at the railway station.
“That is why I’ve been released one year, eight months early. I believe that other political prisoners should be released soon.”





Belyatsky, director of human rights organisation Vyasna (Spring) which helps victims of political repression under Lukashenko, has won several top European awards and has been repeatedly nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.





In November 2011, he was jailed for four-and-a-half years on tax evasion charges on the grounds that Vyasna used bank accounts in Poland and Lithuania to collect donations for helping political prisoners, a criminal activity under Belarussian laws.





- ‘An important step’ -
A statement from the office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the freeing of Ales Belyatsky was “an important step by the Belarusian authorities and should be followed without delay by the release of all the remaining political prisoners.”





The statement appeared to hold out a possible review of EU sanctions should Minsk move to free others and restore their civic rights, saying “this could contribute to improving relations between the European Union and Belarus.”





Washington also hailed what it called a “positive development”, adding: “We reiterate our call for the government of Belarus to immediately and unconditionally release all the political prisoners who remain in detention and restore their political rights.”





The EU last October renewed sanctions against the close Russian ally, saying it had failed to make sufficient progress on human rights. Belarus arrested scores of people after a massive opposition protest on the night of the December 2010 presidential election. Several candidates opposing Lukashenko, as well as other opposition leaders, were later sentenced to long jail terms.





Around a dozen opposition figures widely considered to be prisoners of conscience remain imprisoned. Belyatsky said he had been released under amnesty, adding that the head of his penal colony had informed him about the move earlier Saturday.
“For some reason they put me into an ambulance and took me to the railway station,” he said. “On board the train a stranger lent me his phone to call my wife,” said Belyatsky, who is also a vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
His family and colleagues said they had not expected him to be released early.
“This is absolutely unexpected for us,” said Vyasna’s deputy head Valentin Stefanovich, adding that the release was all the more surprising because Belyatsky had had two official reprimands from prison officials.
“The last one was for taking a piece of bread from a canteen.”





- Mending fences with Europe -
In power since 1994, Lukashenko unleashed a crackdown on human rights campaigners and the political opposition after winning re-election in the 2010 presidential polls despite mass protests.





Lukashenko, who was once dubbed the last dictator of Europe by the United States, had used Belyatsky’s trial to bolster his allegations that Europe has sought to topple him with the help of the local opposition.





Repeated Western calls on Lukashenko to stop harassing the opposition have borne little fruit.
But on Saturday political experts said Belyatsky’s release might indicate that Lukashenko was concerned by Moscow’s showdown with the fellow Slavic nation of Ukraine and was keen to mend fences with the European Union.
“The current step of the regime is linked with Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine,” said political analyst Alexei Korol, noting the mercurial leader has been driven by a desire to preserve his grip on power.



* Original source of the news :

US, EU welcome release of top Belarus activist

http://bit.ly/1lRYwn3 


(민스크 AFP=연합뉴스) 노벨평화상 후보에 여러 차례 오른 벨라루스 인권운동가 알레스 벨리야츠키(51)가 수감 2년 반 만에 돌연 석방됐다.

벨리야츠키는 21일(현지시간) 사면을 받고 석방된 직후 수도 민스크에서 기자회견을 열고 "국제사회의 지원과 연대 덕분에 풀려났다"면서 "해오던 (인권운동) 일을 계속할 것"이라고 말했다.

그는 "다른 정치범들도 조속히 석방돼야 한다"고 강조했다.

벨리야츠키는 2011년 11월 폴란드와 리투아니아 등에 계좌를 개설해 수감된 정치범 후원금을 모으며 세금을 회피했다는 이유로 4년 6개월형을 선고받고 복역해왔다.

그는 인권운동단체를 세워 알렉산드르 루카셴코 벨라루스 대통령의 억압에 맞서는 이들을 지원해왔으며 유럽 지역의 여러 인권상을 받는 한편 노벨평화상 후보에도 수차례 올랐다.

한편, 미국과 유럽연합은 벨리야츠키의 석방을 환영하면서 벨라루스 당국에 수감된 정치범 모두를 석방하라고 촉구했다.