Marek Migalski: We were not allowed to meet with political prisoners

• 14.08.2013, 15:55

A meeting with political prisoners is an essential demand of the EP's delegation to Belarus.

Charter97.org has learnt it from member of the European Parliament Marek Migalski.

“I was to be a member of a six-person delegation, but the European and Belarusian parties failed to reach a consensus on the character and procedures of the visit,” the politician said.

He stressed that the conditions set for the European Union were unacceptable.

“We, for our part, didn't agree on the conditions proposed by the Belarusian side. However, the visit wasn't cancelled. It was postponed. One of the conditions the European delegation didn't want to waive was meetings with political prisoners, their relatives and human rights defenders,” Marek Migalski summed up.

The last MEP who paid an official visit to Minsk was EP's rapporteur on Belarus Justas Paleckis. The politician made a special report following the trip. The MEP's visit to Minsk and his talks with the Belarusian authorities were criticised both by opposition and relatives of political prisoners.