Foreign Secretary William Hague expresses UK concern following Belarus elections

Foreign Secretary William Hague

'I urge the Belarusian authorities to ensure that all detainees are given access to adequate medical care and legal representation'

Dec 23, 2010 (KATAKAMI / FCO.GOV.UK) --- Following the Belarus Presidential elections and widespread reports of its conduct and its aftermath the Foreign Secretary William Hague said:

 “The UK Government has extremely serious concerns about the conduct of the Belarus Presidential election and the reports that the Belarusian authorities responded with excessive and apparently coordinated violence.  Seven Presidential Candidates and over six hundred protesters were reported to have been arrested on the day of the election.

 “I understand that the conditions in which detainees are being held are utterly  unacceptable and designed to punish and intimidate. I am also extremely concerned at what appear to be forced recantations, broadcast on Belarusian state media, reminiscent of the show trials of a previous era.

 “I therefore call on the Belarusian authorities to release immediately all those detained for politically motivated reasons as a matter of urgency. In particular, I call on the Belarusian authorities to make known the whereabouts of the opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyaev who was forcibly removed from intensive care in the early hours of Monday morning and whose location and wellbeing are still unknown.

 “I urge the Belarusian authorities to ensure that all detainees are given access to adequate medical care and legal representation, and call on President Lukashenko and his government to engage in a dialogue with political parties, NGOs and civil society with a view to allowing them to fulfil their natural role in a democratic society."  (*)

Lukashenko victory 'predictable' - Russian ambassador

Alexander Lukashenko

December 23, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- Russia's Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov has criticized the Belarusian opposition for rioting, saying the reelection of Alexander Lukashenko as president was "predictable."

"A predictable election, a predictable victory," Surikov said at a press conference in Minsk on Thursday. "We understood everything from the very beginning."

Thousands of people flooded into central Minsk on Sunday after news emerged that Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the West, had won 79.7 percent of the vote on Sunday.

More than 600 were jailed for up to two weeks, while a dozen detainees, including six presidential candidates, are facing longer terms of up to 15 years for organizing "mass disturbances."

"The opposition was counting for a yellow, orange or some other kind of ['color'] revolution," Surikov said.

"The organizers and participants [of the demonstrations] should be judged according to Belarusian law," he said. "It is Belarus's internal affair, not ours."

The ambassador conveyed his empathy to those who were injured in the riots, however added that the mere presence of a person at a non-sanctioned protest is "already a breach" in the law and therefore illegal.

International monitors have said the Sunday ballot was "flawed."  (*)


MINSK, December 23