Ales Byalatski: “Europe’s firm stance has influenced Dashkevich’s release”

• 24.01.2008, 9:24

“It’s not easy to understand why it has happened. One could only suppose that Europe’s firm stance on political prisoners of Belarus has had influence. Maybe it’s a new attempt of the regime to coax the West and alleviate tension of the situation,” comments a well-known human rights activist Ales Byalatski a yesterday’s unexpected release of one of the leaders of the Young Front, a political prisoner Zmitser Dashkevich.

“It’s a totally unexpected discharge from prison! Moreover, [it is unexpected] against the background of recent detentions and ‘Zdzvizhkou’s case’, even if a week ago Autukhovich was released. Nobody thought Dashkevich would be released as well,” Byalatski was quoted by “Nasha Niva”.