Opposition leader banned from leaving Belarus
Belarus's Interior Ministry's Migration Department has told Anatol Lyabedzka, the leader of the United Civic Party, that he will not be allowed to leave the country. The police said he was still under investigation in a 2004 criminal case that was opened following his comments on the policies of Alexander Lukashenka in a Russian State Television show. However, he has had no problem changing his passports and travelling abroad up to now.
But after he visited the United States as part of a delegation of the Belarus's opposition leaders, Lyabedzka began facing problems and eventually got on the "black list".
“A precedent is being created that this list can be made sizeless. If someone is a suspect in a criminal case, he or she can be entered into the black list and banned from leaving the territory of Belarus," Lyabedzka told the European Radio for Belarus.
He believes that the Belarusian Constitution has been violated because citizens are guranteed to travel freely. In the view of the politician, the West can respond with adequate steps to the new measure of the Belarusian authorities.
Lyabedzka said: "Previously, the right to a free travel by Belarusian citizens was not on the list of the demands that the West wanted the official Minsk to meet. Now, it can be added to the list of political prisoners, the situation with the media and repressions against the dissent".
But after he visited the United States as part of a delegation of the Belarus's opposition leaders, Lyabedzka began facing problems and eventually got on the "black list".
“A precedent is being created that this list can be made sizeless. If someone is a suspect in a criminal case, he or she can be entered into the black list and banned from leaving the territory of Belarus," Lyabedzka told the European Radio for Belarus.
He believes that the Belarusian Constitution has been violated because citizens are guranteed to travel freely. In the view of the politician, the West can respond with adequate steps to the new measure of the Belarusian authorities.
Lyabedzka said: "Previously, the right to a free travel by Belarusian citizens was not on the list of the demands that the West wanted the official Minsk to meet. Now, it can be added to the list of political prisoners, the situation with the media and repressions against the dissent".
