All "political prisoners" should be released in Belarus, and the country's authorities must " stop repressions against civil society, independent media and opposition representatives". This is stated in a statement by the United Kingdom and 37 OSCE countries.
The statement notes that " after the presidential elections in August 2020, the people of Belarus at peaceful rallies spoke out for democracy and against falsified results". However, in response, " Lukashenko's regime began a brutal and systematic suppression of peaceful protests". Since then, as it is emphasized, little has changed, and "the Belarusian authorities continued to systematically suppress fundamental freedoms and persecute those who are perceived as critics of the authorities".
" Moreover, Belarus' support for Russia's unprovoked and unjustified aggressive war against Ukraine, as well as the use of illegal migration and hybrid activities against its neighbors, once again underlines its disregard for international peace and security, as well as its obligations to the OSCE", the statement said.
The authors of the document, " welcoming the release of several hundred political prisoners, remain deeply concerned about the ongoing arrests and prosecutions motivated by political reasons".
" We once again call for the immediate and unconditional release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners and urge the Belarusian authorities to stop the campaign of repression. The perpetrators must be brought to justice", the document says.
In addition, it is noted that "after six years, the courage and democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people remain unchanged".
"We firmly support the people of Belarus in their quest for a free, democratic and independent country… We sincerely hope that next year will bring tangible progress so that we can talk about significant improvements, and not raise the same problems again," the statement said.
Recall, after the failure of the coup d'etat supported by Western countries in Belarus in 2020, the republic began to clean up the radical opposition. After that, Britain and the EU imposed tough sanctions against Minsk and demanded compliance with their requirements related to changes in domestic and foreign policy.