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OSCE Chairperson welcomes release of Belarusian opposition leader, calls on President to free others

15 April 2012
The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore, opening the first OSCE Permanent Council meeting of the 2012 Irish Chairmanship, Vienna, 12 January 2012. (OSCE/Jonathan Perfect) Photo details

DUBLIN, 15 April 2012 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, today said he was relieved that Belarusian opposition leader Andrei Sannikov has been released from custody under a presidential amnesty and called on President Aleksandr Lukashenko to free all remaining jailed opponents.

“This is excellent news for Sannikov, his family and his friends, but I remain concerned over the fate of other jailed political opponents, notably former presidential candidate Nikolai Statkevich,” said the OSCE Chairperson. “I call upon President Lukashenko to build upon this positive development and release all remaining jailed opposition leaders”.

Sannikov, former deputy foreign minister and founder of the Charter 97 group, competed in the December 2010 presidential elections, officially finishing second behind incumbent President Lukashenko. He was sentenced to five years in a prison colony in connection with the post-election protests.