The resolution on Belarus that was adopted by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on January, 25 in Strasbourg is «an ordinary stereotyped document written on the basis of doubtful and false accusations taken from the Internet,» Andrey Savinykh, spokesman for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during Thursday’s briefing.
According to him, PACE rapporteur on Belarus Andreas Herkel who authored the document had neither visited our country nor applied for an entry visa. Savinykh pointed out that Mr. Herkel had not been a member of the Estonian parliamentary delegation visiting Belarus in autumn, 2011.
«This speaks a lot,» spokesman said. «PACE did not even invite members of the Belarusian parliament to the discussion of this opus, if I may call it so, which is another proof of the biased and prejudiced nature of their approach.»
«We have seen very little common sense and the lack of logic in all actions of this sort lately,» Mr. Savinykh said. «They are rather aimed at serving the career, reputation and political needs of the initiators.»
On January, 25 PACE called on the Belarusian authorities to release and rehabilitate the political prisoners, pursue close investigation of torture and prison abuse, allow defence lawyers to perform their professional duties without fear of retaliation, abolish Art.193.1 of the Criminal Code, which prescribes responsibility for activity on behalf of an unregistered organization .
The resolution urges official Minsk to guarantee freedom of assembly, renounce the use of force to disperse street protests, stop arresting demostrators, assure freedom of expression and put an end to the pressure on independent media and journalists.
According to the document, the Belarusian authorities should give their permission to OCSE office to resume their work in Minsk and cooperate to international human rights organizations to the full extent. UN and OSCE representatives, PACE rapporteurs having applied for admission to Belarus should be allowed to visit the country.
Belsat
