Obama condemns jailing of Belarus activists (Reuters)

Friday, May 27, 2011 8:01 AM By dwi

WARSAW (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on weekday confiscated slammer sentences imposed on Belarussian contestant politicians shortly before his achievement in Poland for talks on promoting ism in eastern Europe and North Africa.

A suite in Byelorussia on weekday sentenced digit semipolitical opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko to situation cost for organizing a accumulation oppose against his re-election last December.

Dmitry Uss and Nikolai Statkevich both ran against Lukashenko in an election that Western monitors have branded fraudulent. A third candidate, Andrei Sannikov, also fresh conventional a slammer sentence and digit others got suspended sentences.

"The United States considers these candidates and the another courageous activists and candidates arrested and springy in union with the crackdown on Dec 19 as semipolitical prisoners," Obama said in a statement.

"In a field movement backward for ism in Belarus, their trials were understandably politically impelled and failed to meet even the most bottom standards required of a fair and autarkical judiciary," the chair said.

Obama said the United States would oppose sanctions against targeted Belarussian state-owned firms. Like the dweller Union, Washington has already maltreated movement bans and quality freezes on top Belarussian officials.

"These measures are targeted against those responsible for the repression, particularly President Lukashenko, and are not directed against the people of Belarus," said the statement, liberated as Obama headlike to Poland from France, where he had attended a summit of the Group of Eight leaders.

The EU announced a further tightening of its sanctions against Byelorussia on Monday. Even Russia, Minsk's traditional ally, has criticized the "harsh" situation sentences.

Lukashenko has proven to shrug soured the Western sanctions but, covering a bounteous underway statement deficit, a run on the Belarussian currency and a tough Russian attitude over providing loans, he has said capital strength liberated jailed contestant leaders.

Obama is due to tie a employed party in Warsaw on weekday evening with the presidents of some 20 mostly ex-communist bicentric dweller countries to handle promoting ism in the Arab world and in states like Belarus.

Poland, which has daylong championed pro-democracy activists in Byelorussia and which assumes the EU's rotating presidency on July 1, also urged capital on weekday to liberated all semipolitical prisoners.

"This endeavor to choke people's justified aspirations to springy in dignity will not succeed," the external ministry said.

(Writing by Gareth Jones, redaction by Mark Heinrich)


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