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European Parliament adopts resolution on state of democracy in Belarus

15 January 2009 15:09 (UTC +04:00)

Brussels. Alexander Kin â€“ APA. European Parliament intends to normalize the relations with Belarus only after the process of democratization begins in the country. APAâ€™s special correspondent reports from Brussels that European Parliament has adopted resolution today. 551 voted for the resolution, 15 voted against and 31 abstained. The resolution demands Belarus to release political prisoners, ensure freedom of speech, continue cooperation with OSCE in improving election legislation, create favourable conditions for the activity of nongovernmental organizations and ensure freedom of assembly. The parliamentarians also called official Minsk to respect human rights, make relevant amendments to the Criminal Code, improve the attitude towards the national minorities and eliminate the obstacles in the registration of public organizations. The resolution condemned death sentence in Belarus. Despite this, the parliamentarians hailed the steps taken in the country for democratization, registration of Alexander Milinkevichâ€™s â€œMovement for Freedomâ€ and restoration of publication of independent newspapers.