The Committee for Legal Issues and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) condemned "the systematic campaign of persecuting the independent journalists and activists of civil society in the Republic of Belarus"

On 16 September the Committee for Legal Issues and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted in Paris a statement that condemned "the systematic campaign of persecuting the independent journalists and activists of civil society in the Republic of Belarus", as well as "reprisals against the Union of Poles and the Polish-speaking media".
The PACE committee expressed its concern over the criminal persecution against the authors of a cartoon assessed by the Belarusian authorities as libeling and insult of the head of state, and believes that such actions "are incompatible with the freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly" that Belarus "has undertaken to honor in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of UN and the Helsinki Final Act of OSCE".
The statement authors urged the independent journalists and civil society activists not to yield to the "intimidation campaign" and "continue the struggle for democracy and human rights", reported the press service of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.