Participants of Medvedev's session criticize situation with Byalyatski
Problems of Belarus were mentioned at the session of the Russian President's Human Rights Council on April 28.
According to the information provided by the web-site of the President of Russia, head of the Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights Yury Dzibladze spoke at the session. He said that Russia should react to the facts of human rights violation in partner countries.
The human rights defender stated that Russian diplomats often made statements
with regard to situations with human rights in other countries basing on the
"eye for eye, tooth for tooth" principle - they notice human
rights violations only in the countries which criticize Russia.
Dzibladze set Belarus and the situation with imprisoned HR defender Ales
Byalyatski as an example. He noted that Byalyatski had been sentenced not for
the tax evasion, but for his work in the field of human rights for many years.
The HR defender underlined that Russia did practically nothing to solve this
issue. He passed an appeal of the Human Rights Council's members in defense of
Ales Byalyatski to Medvedev.
The Russian President, in his turn, reminded that he personally and Russian
diplomats had made very strict statements on human rights in Belarus. Dmitri
Medvedev also said it was unacceptable to persecute political rivals.
