President of the European Parliament condemns abductions in Belarus
December 8 2009

Repressions against opposition put in question relations of the European Union with official Minsk.

Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, made a statement after he learnt that one of coordinators of “European Belarus” civil campaign Yauhen Afnagel was abducted. He was sized by the unknown in mufti and taken out of the city into a forest, Radio Svaboda informs.

“The incident that has occurred in Belarus is an act of intimidation. I address the authorities with a call to create conditions to rule out repetition of such cases. The culprits should be found and convicted justly,” Jerzy Buzek said.

The President of the European Parliament has warned the authorities that such facts shouldn’t happen. “It is not the first occurrence over the last 10 days. The European Parliament believes that the dialogue with Belarus should be continued under certain terms: it should happen together with the progress in the sphere of democracy, human rights and rule of law. Such cases as abductions and intimidation put in question the present approach of the member countries of the European Union towards Belarus”.

The President of the European Parliament condemns these events and finds them unacceptable.