Presidential rights council to look at Belarus’ blacklist of Russians

The Presidential Council for Human Rights (Russia) is going to look at the list of Russians banned from entry to Belarus, the group’s leader Mikhail Fedotov has said.

“We want to know who is banned from traveling to Belarus and why. We are members of the Union State, we have lots of agreements, let’s see how well they are observed,” Fedotov said. The council has already sent a suggestion to Minsk concerning the establishment of a contact group to look into Belarusian affairs. This spring, Belarus ordered several Russian rights activists, including Yury Djibladze of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, to leave the country. They have been banned from Belarus for at least a year.