Welcome
Human Rights Commissioner calls for release of opposition activists imprisoned in Belarus
Sources concur that around 600 demonstrators and opposition politicians, among them several candidates for the presidency, have been arrested in the course of the presidential elections in Belarus. A large number of them have already been subject to ad-hoc trials and sentenced to several days in prison.
Markus Löning, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy, issued the following statement today (21 December):
“Falsifying and manipulating the elections, using police violence against demonstrators, condemning hundreds of citizens for claiming their right to freedom of assembly, arresting, abusing and publicly humiliating opposition presidential candidates – in the aftermath of these elections, the Belarusian Government has revealed its true face as Europe’s last dictatorship.
I pledge solidarity with those who have been imprisoned for claiming their inalienable right to freedom of opinion.
I condemn the actions of the Belarusian authorities in the strongest possible terms and call upon the President to order the immediate release of all those arrested.”