CSW welcomes European Commission statement on Belarusian prisoner 01/01/2008
Zmitser Dashkevich
CSW has welcomed a statement from the European Commission in response to developments in the case of Belarusian prisoner, Zmitser Dashkevich. Dashkevich was fined the equivalent of £412 in November 2007 after he refused to give the names and addresses of other members of the prodemocratic movement, Young Front.
Zmitser Dashkevich, also known as Dimitri, is serving eighteen months’ imprisonment for his involvement in Young Front. During a court hearing held in the prison where he is detained, the judge, Tatiana Kashkina, found Zmitser guilty of violating article 402 of the Belarusian Criminal Code relating to the “witness or victim’s denial or deviation to testify”.
Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, expressed her concern over a new verdict, stating that the court’s decision “utterly contradicts the principles and values laid down in the EU’s message to Belarus which I released a year ago.”
Ms Ferrero-Waldner went on to urge the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners and said “I emphasize again the EU’s offer to Belarus to engage into a full partnership once Belarus has taken convincing and irreversible steps towards democratization and respect for human rights, including the right of the Belarusian people to freely express their views and enjoy the freedom of assembly.”
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