Loans tied to better behavior

VILNIUS - Belarusian authorities should immediately liberate all political prisoners whose life and health are threatened today, head of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee Emanuelis Zingeris said to the representatives of Belarusian civil society, the Charter ‘97 Press Center reports.

The Foreign Affairs Committee head made a statement concerning the situation around political prisoner Zmitser Bandarenka, who was moved to the investigation isolation ward after a complicated operation on his spine, and soon will be transferred to prison. The issue of data communication to non-democratic states and separation of political and criminal information will be discussed during the meeting of heads of Foreign Affairs Committees of EU members on Sept. 5 in Warsaw.

Zingeris recalled the statement made during the meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Committees on Aug. 9, where the Committee called upon the government of Lithuania to guarantee support of the Belarusian opposition whose members are now in Lithuania, and assist liberation of political prisoners in Belarus. The decision of a group of U.S. Senators not to give Belarus an IMF loan unless all political prisoners are freed was approved of.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Belarusian emigrants to Lithuania, human rights activists, and editor of the Web site www.charter97.org, Natalia Radina, who has recently applied for political asylum in Lithuania.