Scottish parliament criticized for inviting Belarusian ambassador

Human rights activists subjected to criticism the invitation of Siarhej Alejnik to the parliament of Scotland.

The information comes from the British The Herald newspaper.

The newspaper reports that Belarus’ ambassador was invited to the Scottish parliament on Thursday. Parliament members welcomed with an ovation the speaker Trisha Marwick’s announcement of his presence in the VIP lounge.

International human rights organizations note that Siarhej Alejnik represents the country notorious as “Europe’s last dictatorship”. Human rights are violated in Belarus, death penalty is used, and the opponents of the authorities are thrown to prisons, Human Rights Watch reminds. The newspaper got the statement from a representative of the organization Julia Gorbunova.

“Belarus is the most repressive state in Europe. The situation with human rights in the country is very bad and keeps deteriorating”, - she said, explaining why Scottish lawmaker should have treated the invitation of Siarhej Alejnik more seriously.

The press-secretary of the parliament’s speaker highlighted that the initiative of his visit came from the embassy of Belarus.

“Scottish parliament decides on its international connections in consistent with Great Britain’s foreign policy. This is a normal practice when we satisfy the requests for visiting Scotland’s parliament from the ambassadors, representing the country that Great Britain has diplomatic relations with”, - she explained.