EU: Political Prisoners In Belarus Must Be Unconditionally Freed And Rehabilitated

• 21.05.2024, 11:37

Unconditionally.

On May 21, the International Day of Solidarity with Belarusian Political Prisoners, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said that the European Union "stands on the side of the people of Belarus."

“All political prisoners must be unconditionally freed and rehabilitated. All those responsible will be held to account," demanded the EEAS on X.

Belarusian human rights defenders declared May 21 the Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners not by chance — on this day in 2021, activist Vitold Ashurak died in Shklou prison #17 (Mahiliou region) under mysterious circumstances. Since then, at least five more people have died in prisons.

It is worth noting that there are much more political prisoners in Belarus than the figure presented by human rights organizations. The Investigative Committee announced more than 10,000 criminal cases linked to protests, which makes it possible to assess the real scale of repression.

Human rights activists are simply not able to count the number of political prisoners in Belarus and there are many questions about the criteria they use in assessing the people who are being imprisoned today.