Ambassador Shagal has no interest in actual situation in Belarus

Israel’s Ambassador to Belarus Yosef Shagal who is “unaware” of political prisoners, has no interest in learning about them.

Last week activists of the civic campaign European Belarus Uladzimir Lemiesh, Zmitser Drozd and Siargey Kazakou contacted the Israeli Embassy in Minsk asking for a meeting with the ambassador and left a written application. But their request was refused. Mr Shagal is comfortable with his ignorance.

”We wanted to help Mr Ambassador get a better understanding of the situation, to tell him that political prisoners are not a myth created by the media, as he said it was. To tell him about hundreds of Belarusians who have been through prison and tortures just recently. To tell him that the presidential candidates that got millions of votes are in jail… To tell him that there are no independent courts in Belarus, trade unions’ rights are violated… Belarus is a complicated country for any diplomat, the diplomatic conflict with the European Union proves it. And we think that the Israeli Ambassador should know that Lukashenka openly expressed his admiration for Hitler, and made a range of anti-Semitic statements. But it seems like Shagal cares about his little business more than his country’s interests and the relations between our peoples…” former political prisoner, activist of European Belarus Siargey Kazakou told charter97.org.