Political protester Vasily Parenkov has been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for breaking a window in the Belarus parliament building in the mass protests following the reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko in December. [AFP; The Economist] Critics say that such vandalism crimes should carry a much lighter sentence. Over 40 other opposition leaders and activists have also been charged in connection with the riots. [Deutsche Welle]
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged the government of Belarus to ensure an end to reported harassment of political opponents, journalists and members of civil society, including through the release of those recently detained. [UN News Centre] A number of individuals were detained following the country’s elections in December. Some were released at the end of January, but more remain in jail. [NYT]
President Alexander Lukashenko was elected to a fourth term, in an election which protesters criticized as fraudulent. [The Huffington Post] Lukashenko, who some have called “Europe’s last dictator” has held the presidency since 1994. [BBC; Spiegel] Election observers cited irregularities in vote counting in December’s election. [Guardian;WSJ]. The European Union and U.S. are preparing to impose sanctions against Belarus in response to the crackdown on opposition. [BBC; Washington Post; AFP; Reuters] President Lukashenko closed the OSCE office in Belarus following criticism of the election, which OSCE had monitored. [AFP]
Belarus is the only country west of Russia not to have joined the Council of Europe, and is therefore not a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. Nonetheless, the Council of Europe has called on Belarus to immediately release detained opposition members. [COE] Belarus is, however, a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and has accepted the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Committee to receive both inter-State and individual complaints against it. See the SIM database for Committee decisions regarding Belarus.