Matteo Mecacci: Lukashenka must release political prisoners and start dialogue with them

Matteo Mecacci, Rapporteur of the PA OSCE Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions has called upon the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners.

The statement of the politician was made at the opening of the OSCE consultations on evaluation of meeting commitments related to human dimension, which is held in Warsaw on September 26-October 7.

Matteo Mecacci noted that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, is disappointed by the events in Belarus after the presidential election and expressed deep regret over shutting down the OSCE office in Minsk.

As said by the PA OSCE representative, human rights violations go on in Belarus in all spheres, the opposition and civil society experience crackdown.

“At the same time we are hearing now that the Belarusian authorities are calling upon a dialogue. We are ready for such a dialogue. But we continue to call upon the Belarusian authorities to release opposition representatives and start a dialogue with them on changing the political situation in the country,” Mr Mecacci underlined.