EU commissioner urges Belarusian regime release Kazulin
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17:27, — Politics
The EU's external relations commissioner appealed to Belarus authorities on Monday to release jailed opposition figure Alyaksandr Kazulin and allow him to attend his wife's funeral.
"I hope and I would appreciate this as an important signal, that the Belarus authorities will let Mr Kazulin attend tomorrow's funeral in Minsk," EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.
As we have informed, the wife of the oppositional politician, a former presidential candidate, Iryna Kazulina died on February 23 in the evening. However, her husband hasn’t been granted a short-term leave to attend the funeral. Kazulin, , who is serving a five-and-a-half-year term for public order offences, his family and some colleagues have declared a hunger strike.
"I once again urge the Belarus authorities to release Mr Kazulin. Putting an end to the practice of detaining citizens on political grounds in Belarus would be a significant step on the Belarusian side," Ferrero-Waldner said.
"I offer my condolences to Mr Kazulin and his close ones on the occasion of the passing away of Mrs Kazulina," she added.
