Laima Andrikienė: ‘Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe show solidarity with journalists and medical doctors persecuted in Belarus’
Press release, 2 March 2021
Today’s Statement on the persecution of journalists and medical doctors in Belarus, undersigned by a large group of members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), expresses solidarity with the convicted Belsat TV journalists Katsiaryna Bakhvalava (Andreyeva) and Darya Chultsova and persons currently on trial, namely, doctor Artyom Sarokin and online news portal journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich.
Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas
Laima Andrikienė, Vice-President of the PACE and the initiator of this Statement, points out that the statement addressing the entire PACE and Heiko Maas, Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, was signed by three dozens of Members of the PACE from Spain, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Lithuania and Austria, representing a range of political groups. The Statement brings to the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, its German Presidency, Mr Maas as Chair of the German Presidency and Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, as well as to the attention of other Member States of the Council of Europe, the recent developments that clearly attest to the facts of persecution and imprisonment of journalists and medical doctors on politically motivated grounds.
‘We state that the trials of innocent people in Minsk make a mockery of justice and human dignity. These cases have been condemned by press freedom and human rights organisations, the medical community, and government of democratic countries. We are deeply concerned about the Belarusian citizens who fall victim to political persecution, express our support for the Belarusians fighting for freedom and democracy, urge the Belarusian authorities to immediately retract the unjustified accusations against doctor Artyom Sarokin, journalists Katsiaryna Barysevich, Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, Darya Chultsova, other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and demand that their prosecution be stopped as soon as possible,’ the statement says.
Selija Levin, Adviser, International Relations Unit, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6216,
e-mail: [email protected]
Monika Kutkaitytė