Iryna Bahdanava to take OSCE floor to talk about political prisoners
- 23.02.2012, 16:07
Vienna hosts the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) on February 23-24.
It is one of a few international institutions with official Belarusian representatives. They are presented by Viktar Huminski and Nina Mazai in Vienna. Iryna Bahdanava, the sister of political prisoner Andrei Sannikov, has also been invited to the session, Radio Svaboda reports.
Member of the “house of representatives” Valyantsina Lyavonenka is included in the Belarusian delegation to the OSCE PA), but she did not fly to Vienna. She explains:
“Winter sessions are usually short. They mainly deal with organizational issues. As far as I know, no key issues will be discussed. The main purpose is preparing the agenda for a longer summer session.”
Iryna Bahdanava, the sister of imprisoned presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, has been in Vienna since February 22. She is expected to take the floor at the session today. She is given 7 minutes, which is, in her opinion, a rather long time for such an audience.
Anatol Lyabedzka, who used to be a member of the Belarusian Supreme Council of the 13th Convocation to the OSCE PA, agrees with Iryna Bahdanava:
“You are usually given five minutes at plenary sittings. Not only guests, but PA members with the right to vote are given this time. Seven minutes is a rather long time for the OSCE.
“Secondly, I find the fact of inviting Iryna Bahdanava very important. She belongs to, conditionally speaking, a hardline radical wing. It means the people who invited her know what will be said and in what context. So, they want to hear a harsh critical message in Vienna. They want the Assembly and official representatives of Belarus to hear it.”
Human rights activist Valyantsin Stefanovich has an experience of addressing the members of the OSCE PA. He says Russian human rights defenders put forward an initiative to expel Belarus from the OSCE for numerous flagrant violations of human rights.