UK Minister for Europe voices concern over Bialiatski's arrest
David Lidington, minister of state for Europe at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has expressed deep concern over the detention of Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski.
The 48-year-old Bialiatski, chairman of the Human Rights
Center Viasna and vice-President of the International Federation for
Human Rights (FIDH), was arrested in Minsk
on 4August on suspicion of large-scale tax evasion. He may be sentenced to up
seven years in prison.
"This appears to be a further example of the blatant harassment of human
rights defenders in Belarus,”
Mr. Lidington says in a statement issued on Saturday. “I call on the
authorities to ensure the rights and freedoms of all human rights defenders are
fully upheld in accordance with the international treaties that the Government
of Belarus has ratified. The UK
will be raising the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus with EU
partners."
