COPENHAGEN, 16 May 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou today criticized the authorities of Belarus following the sentencing of opposition presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov to five years in prison on charges of rioting in connection with demonstrations after the December 19 presidential election.

“In no democracy does the winner throw the loser in jail,” President Efthymiou said. “As if the December crackdown on demonstrators was not bad enough, this case against Mr. Sannikov and others sets a terrible precedent for democracy. We condemn this ruling, which is symbolic of the growing political repression experienced by those trying to simply express an independent voice in Minsk.”

Sannikov, a former deputy foreign minister who briefed the OSCE PA election observers in Minsk last year, finished second in the December ballot. He won less than three percent of the vote, according to official counts which were widely deemed as flawed.

More than 20 members of the opposition still remain in prison charged with “grossly violating the public order” for demonstrating after the election. Others are under house arrest, unable to leave the country or have escaped and claimed asylum abroad. “We are particularly concerned about the limitations being placed on political opposition and civil society in Belarus. The sentences handed down for those involved in the post-election protests are excessive, show a lack of regard for basic rights to assembly and expression, and contribute to a culture of fear and self-censorship among media and civil society in the country,” President Efthymiou said.

Independent newspapers operate under the constant threat of closure in Belarus. Mr. Sannikov’s wife, Iryna Khalip, a journalist, today received two years in prison for her role in the demonstrations. The couple has a three-year-old son.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has been following the situation in Belarus closely and underlined the need for due process and basic freedoms to be respected. In January President Efthymiou called for the OSCE’s full-time field mission in Minsk to be re-opened, after Belarusian authorities blocked the extension of the Office’s mandate.

“Allowing a few international human rights officials to monitor these trials is no substitute for an OSCE field presence in the country. We call on the Belarusian government to reconsider the closure of the OSCE Office in Minsk,” said President Efthymiou. Despite requests, the head of the Assembly’s Ad-Hoc Working Group on Belarus, Uta Zapf (Germany) has not been granted a visa to Belarus to observe the trials.