SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
STATEMENT
ON THE PERSECUTION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS BY THE BELARUSIAN REGIME
15 December 2021
Vilnius
The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,
having regard
to the extremely severe verdict of 14 December 2021 delivered by court of the
Belarusian regime against political prisoners, including Siarhei Tsikhanouski, sentenced to 18 years
in a maximum security prison; Mikalai Statkevich, sentenced to 14 years in prison; Ihar Losik, and
Uladzimir Tsyhanovich, sentenced to 15 years in prison; and Artsiom Sakau and Dzmitry Papou,
sentenced to 16 years in prison,
noting
that the Lukashenko regime has been increasingly resorting to repression and that there are
currently 929 political prisoners in Belarus,
strongly condemns
the abovementioned court ruling of 14 December 2021 of the Belarusian regime;
calls for
the release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners and other illegally detained persons;
demands
access for international observers to the detention facilities of the Belarusian regime and
calls on
the entire international community to demand access for representatives of international
human rights organisations to visit political prisoners and monitor their detention conditions and
health status;
calls on
the Member States of the European Union and the European institutions, as well as the Euro-
Atlantic partners to take joint action in the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Co-
operation in Europe and other international organisations, the G-7 and other formats to stop the
unjustified and unlawful mass persecution of Belarusian political activists, human rights defenders,
and independent journalists by the Belarusian regime and bring the perpetrators to justice;
calls for
economic and political sanctions against the Lukashenko regime jointly imposed by all Euro-
Atlantic partners until all political prisoners are released and free and democratic elections are held
and for consideration of new sanctions should the regime escalate the repression.
Giedrius Surplys
Deputy Chair and Acting Chair of the Committee