President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, called on Belarusian authorities to "stop immediately all repression and intimidation of civil society groups and to get back on the way to democratisation ». This statement was made by the head of the EP in Strasbourg after a meeting with leaders of the United Civil Party, Anatoly Lebedko and Jaroslav Romanchuk.
As the EP presidential press service informs, Belarusian opposition politicians told Jerzy Buzek about the searches of activists of Tell the truth! campaign throughout Belarus.
«I am very concerned about the recent worsening of the human rights situation in Belarus, we see no improvements but a clear deterioration, and this is deeply worrying me», the head of the EP stated.
In addition to searches of civil society representatives, Jerzy Buzek stressed that local elections held in Belarus on April 25 were disappointing, because they did not bring any visible improvements in how elections are held both in terms of transparency and meeting democratic standards.
European Parliament’s President also underlined that it’s unacceptable to pressure on independent media from the part of authorities, which increases in recent years, and once again urged Belarusian authorities for a moratorium on the death penalty.
Jerzy Buzek stressed that the dialogue between they EU and Belarus is basing on a number of conditions, among them: «real progress in the field of democracy and clear signs of respect of human rights». The Head of the EP underlined that EU’s targeted sanctions against Belarusian authorities will be revisited in autumn 2010.
