EU commissioner urges Belarusian regime release Kazulin

The EU's external relations commissioner appealed to Belarus authorities on Monday to release jailed opposition figure Alyaksandr Kazulin and allow him to attend his wife's funeral.

"I hope and I would appreciate this as an important signal, that the Belarus authorities will let Mr Kazulin attend tomorrow's funeral in Minsk," EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.

As we have informed, the wife of the oppositional politician, a former presidential candidate, Iryna Kazulina died on February 23 in the evening. However, her husband hasn’t been granted a short-term leave to attend the funeral. Kazulin, , who is serving a five-and-a-half-year term for public order offences, his family and some colleagues have declared a hunger strike.

"I once again urge the Belarus authorities to release Mr Kazulin. Putting an end to the practice of detaining citizens on political grounds in Belarus would be a significant step on the Belarusian side," Ferrero-Waldner said.

"I offer my condolences to Mr Kazulin and his close ones on the occasion of the passing away of Mrs Kazulina," she added.