Mevlüt Çavusoglu from Turkey elected as new PACE President

• 26.01.2010, 13:14

For the first time a representative of Turkey is elected as new President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Mr Çavusoglu succeeds Lluís Maria de Puig from Spain.

Mevlüt Çavusoglu was elected as PACE President on January 25. On the same day he expressed a hope that in 2010 the Belarusian “parliament” would be returned the Special Guest status at the PACE.

“Belarus is the only country at the European continent which is not a member of the Council of Europe,” he said at his first press-conference in Strasbourg.

As www.charter97.org informed earlier, on June 23, 2009 the Council of Europe adopted a resolution according to which the Belarusian “parliament” will restore its special guest status in the PACE only after the capital punishment is abolished. Right after that in a few months two death sentences were issued in Belarus.

At the same time, the document reads that despite of some positive changes “the situation in Belarus is still causing concern”.

In particular, the parliamentary elections of September 2008 fell short of the European standards, persecution and intimidation of opposition activists continues, political and human rights organizations still face hindrances during registration, journalists of independent and foreign media face difficulties when applying for accreditation.

The PACE called upon the authorities to carry out an independent investigation in the case of businessmen from Vaukavysk Mikalai Autukhovich and Uladzimir Asipenka, in order to find out “whether these persons are political prisoners, and if so, demand their release”.

It is also specially mentioned that “in the context of the restoration of Special Guest status for the Belarusian Parliament and until the opposition is adequately represented therein, ensure that a delegation of the Belarusian extraparliamentary opposition is invited to participate in the work of the Assembly and its committees, according to modalities which will be established by the Bureau itself”.