Belarusian chasteners should think it over

The adopted sanctions are obviously not enough to achieve release of the political prisoners and to stop crackdown, believes a lawyer of the human rights centre “Viasna” Valyantsin Stefanovich.

The human rights activist is convinced that more severe measures against the Belarusian regime would advance release of political prisoners. “The main thing is to succeed in release of the political prisoners. And it could be reached only by sanctions, including political ones,” Stafenovich believes. “Legal mechanics does not work inside the country, and it to restore justice by actions inside the country is next to impossible.”

As said by him, the lists of officials banned from entry to the European Union countries were made considering their role in the recent political crackdown. “We’ll see how sensitive the authorities would be to these lists, and how it is to influence the situation in the country. But I hold the view that more harsh actions should be used against Belarusian authorities,” Stefanovich said in an interview to Belsat TV channel.

The human rights activist believes that the adopted sanctions, as well as the black list of the Belarusian officials, have rather symbolic nature, however he underlines: it is important that the list remains open. “So people who are related to repressive actions, should pause to think whether it is worth it,” Valyantsin Stefanovich stressed.