Ales Bialiatski calls on Italian MFA to continue policy of pressure on Belarusian regime
Ales Bialiatski during a meeting with Jessica Laganà. Rome, 24 February 2015.
On 24 February, chairman of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Ales Bialiatski met in Rome with head of the Human Rights Department of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jessica Laganà.
Speaking about the human rights situation in Belarus, Ales Bialiatski called upon the MFA representative to consistently and actively support the policy of pressure on the Belarusian authorities with a demand to democratize the country. In particular, he asked Ms. Laganà to make sure that in its relations with the official Minsk the Italian government sought the release of political prisoners, the abolition of the death penalty and reforms for the sake of democratic elections. “For us it is important that such actions were coordinated both in direct contacts with the leaders of Belarus and in international organizations: UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and the European Union,” stressed the human rights defender.
Ales Bialiatski visited Rome during his working trip to Italy, which was organized by local activist of Amnesty International, who persistently supported the former Belarusian prisoner of conscience during his imprisonment in 2011-2014.
