On 2 July in Strasbourg former political prisoner, head of the Human Rights Centre “Viasna” met with Martin Schulz, who was re-elected as a president of the European Parliament, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Anne Brasseur.

“There are fundamental requirements of the Council of Europe, which are also important for us. They concern the abolition of the death penalty or a moratorium on it, the release of political prisoners and holding fair elections. In my opinion, the Belarusian authorities can not implement these requirements right now. However, dealing with the Belarusian authorities, you should understand that my release was not an occasion. It means that the Belarusian authorities are relations with the EU. It is also related to the geopolitical situation in the region. The Economic Union with Russia and Kazakhstan, joined by Belarus, made our country too close to Russia, and President Lukashenka wants to have room to maneuver. Especially because the events in Ukraine alerted the authorities of Belarus on their eastern neighbor. And this desire, or need, to improve relations with the EU, the need to “grow a second wing” forces President Lukashenka to make some concessions” – said Ales Bialiatski.       

In Paris, Ales Bialiatski payed visit to the City Hall and the Foreign Ministry of France

The long-awaited meeting gathered  FIDH office staff, board members, young activists, translators of the organizations and all those who took an active part in the fate of the recent political prisoner. On 5 July Ales Bialiatski received a diploma of honorary citizen at the City Hall of Paris. The title of Honorary citizen of Paris was awarded to Ales Bialiatski in October 2012 by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe before his retirement from his position. He presented the diploma to the son of Belarusian human rights defender Adam Bialiatski in December 2013.

At the award ceremony, Advisor to the Mayor of Paris on Foreign Relations Patrick Klugman noted the role of Ales Bialiatski both as the head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” in Belarus and as vice president of FIDH. He recalled that the previous mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe wrote a letter to the political prisoner in the colony, and the mayor of the 11th district, on the decision of the Board of the City of Paris, set a portrait of the human rights defender in front of the Mayor’s Office of the 11th District, where the Paris FIDH office is situated.

Ales Bialiatski thanked the Paris City Hall, noting the support provided by it not only warmed him, but also influenced the administration of the colony, in part by serving him as a safe-conduct. He also recalled that the first Belarusian, who received the rank of an honorary citizen of the city of Paris, was a resident of Homel Vasil Siarohin, who fought with French pilots in the division “Normandie-Niemen” on the Soviet-German front in 1943-1945.

After the ceremony at the City Hall, Mr. Bialiatski was received by French Ambassador at Large for Human Rights Patrizianna Sparacino-Thiellay and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At this meeting, the human rights activist stated that Belarus still had seven political prisoners and urged the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to further efforts in their early release.

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