European Parliament Concerns About Case Of Belarusian Anarchists

The MEPs will consider the political component of the verdict to anarchists.

The MEPs will study the situation with the tough sentences of anarchists Mikita Yameljanau and Ivan Komar in Minsk, deputy chairman of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Belarus Valdemar Tomaševski said to reporters at a briefing in the Belarusian capital, Radio Racyja reports.

We remind that the anarchists were sentenced to 7 years each for the actions at the Minsk City Court and the detention center in Volodarsky streeet, which the authorities themselves had assessed in the amount of less than $100.

- The European Parliament delegation always draws attention to the issue of respect for human rights. And we have expectations that the human rights situation in Belarus will improve. There is the experience of previous years, from 2009 to 2014, when there were many political prisoners in Belarus - representatives of the opposition. We had no contacts with the authorities.

Permanent Rapporteur of the European Parliament on Belarus Petras Auštrevičius, in turn, says that the European Union still notes that the restrictive practice of law enforcement against the opposition in Belarus is still observed.

In addition, Auštrevičius calls on the Government of Belarus to stop the brutal application of Article 328 of the Criminal Code "Illicit drug trafficking," as "this article is primarily aimed at adolescents and does not allow the development of freedom in society".