The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,

taking into consideration the critical remarks expressed by the delegation of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the preliminary conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights concerning the Belarus presidential election;

drawing attention to the fact that the basic civic rights as well as the freedoms of expression, association and assembly were grossly violated during the pre-election campaigning;

strongly reacting to violent actions of the Belarusian authorities against the opposition candidates who were persecuted and arrested for their political beliefs;

reminding that some of the international observers were denied Belarusian visas without any justification; 

stating that the OSCE observers accredited in Belarus were hindered from observing the voting process and that the announcement of the preliminary voting results, favourable to the incumbent President of the Republic of Belarus, was started before the close of polls;

regretting that the incumbent Belarusian administration failed to ensure for their citizens the right of choice to express their will in free and democratic elections;

regards this Belarus presidential election as unlawful and failing to meet the international standards for free and democratic elections;

supports the demands to hold a new free and democratic election;

closely observes the situation in Belarus, so that safety of the opposition activists, who participated in the election, would be ensured;

demands the immediate release of all the persons detained during and after the election campaigning for their political views, as well as other political prisoners;

strongly disapproves of Russia’s support for the Belarusian regime and the efforts to legitimize the rigged Belarus presidential election, and urges the heads of the EU Member States to demand at the EU and the G-8 summit meetings that Russia cease supporting the Belarusian regime;

calls on world governments inviting to support the Belarusian democratic forces and civil society, as well as to impose strict individual sanctions on the representatives of the Belarusian regime.   

 

 

 

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS                                                                 ARTŪRAS PAULAUSKAS