Human rights defenders at Riga forum call to free all political prisoners

The call was addressed to all members of the Eastern Partnership.

Participants of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Conference called on heads of the EaP member states to immediately release all political prisoners.

Ales Bialiatski read out the text of the resolution, Euroradio reports.

“The Civil Society Conference in Riga calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Armenia. The governments of these countries must understand that imprisonment of their citizens for political reasons has no place in light of the commitments they made when joining the Eastern Partnership. Prisoners must be released, harassment of NGOs must stop and human rights must be respected,” the resolution says.

The appeal will be handed in to the leaders of the EaP participants and leaders of the EU member states.

The Eastern Partnership Summit is held in Riga on May 21-22. Belarus will be represented by foreign minister Uladzimir Makei.