Czech foreign ministry urges Belarusian authorities to stop prosecution of all persons arrested during peaceful demonstrations

The Czech foreign ministry has called on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally discontinue the prosecution of all persons arrested during peaceful demonstrations.

In a statement issued on April 24, the ministry also urges the Belarusian government to release all political prisoners and respect fundamental human rights and freedoms, in keeping with its international commitments.

The ministry “resolutely condemns the political motivation of the current trials of Belarusian activists.”

“Andrey Kim, Syarhey Parsyukevich and other young people are being persecuted for merely taking part in peaceful demonstrations,” the ministry says. “The Belarusian authorities thus violate human rights, in particular the right to the freedom of expression and the right of assembly, and persist in abusing the criminal justice system to political ends, as noted in the recent resolution of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.” //BelaPAN