The Lukashenka regime is illegitimate and criminal.
On January 22, at a plenary meeting in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Belarus by a majority vote, the correspondent of the Charter97.org website reports.
The resolution is unique because the European Parliament deems the ‘elections’ in Belarus illegitimate ahead of the so-called vote scheduled for January 26.
The resolution goes on to list numerous human rights violations in Belarus, ranging from the enforced disappearances of Lukashenka’s critics in the late 1990s to repression in 2024.
“Several political prisoners have died in custody, four of them in 2024 alone; political prisoners face torture, denial of medical care, restricted access to visits from lawyers and family members, and solitary confinement; in 2024 alone, over 8 800 cases of politically motivated persecution were documented, including arrests, detentions, dismissals and other forms of repression targeting political prisoners, their families and lawyers, activists, journalists, priests, doctors, returning Belarusians and others; at least 1 721 individuals convicted on political charges in 2024 alone,” the document reads.
“Political arrests continue despite [recent] pardons,” MEPs said.
“At least eight political prisoners are currently detained incommunicado,” the MEPs remind.
Separately mentioned is the case of Mikalai Khila, a local member of staff of the EU delegation to Belarus, who “was apprehended by the Belarusian KGB in front of the EU delegation office, held in pre-trial detention since April 2024 and sentenced in December 2024 to four years in prison.”
Lawmakers expressed “grave concern about the situation of political prisoners, including Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, Mikalai Statkevich, Maria Kalesnikava, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Ales Bialiatski, Mikalai Khila, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Maksim Znak, Viktar Babaryka, Ihar Losik, Andrzej Poczobut, Uladzimir Matskevich, Marfa Rabkova, Uladzimir Labkovich, Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Yana Pinchuk, Mikalai Bankou, Andrei Navitski, Henrykh Akalatovich, Uladzimir Kniha, Dzmitry Kuchuk, Pavel Seviarynets and others.”
The parliamentarians recall that ” in September 2024, Lithuania referred the situation in Belarus to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate certain crimes against humanity committed by the Lukashenka regime.”
The European Parliament calls for support for independent media in our country — Charter97.org, Belsat, Radio Racyja, Radio Svaboda and NEXTA, which “play a crucial role in providing essential information and serving as a platform for democratic voices.”
The European Parliament considers the current regime in Belarus illegitimate, illegal and criminal” and refuses to recognize Lukashenka legitimate.
MEPs “urges the EU and its international partners to broaden and strengthen sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the repression in Belarus and for Belarus’s participation in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, while closing sanctions loopholes; calls for the EU to sanction Belarusian entities and individuals responsible for the forced labour of political prisoners.”
PATREON
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Publish date : 2025-01-22 07:12:00
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