NEWS RELEASES

July 14, 2006 (6:50 p.m. EDT)
No. 81

STATEMENT BY MINISTER MACKAY ON BELARUS

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today issued the following statement in reaction to the sentencing of Belarusian opposition leader Alexander Kozulin to five and a half years in jail:

“Canada condemns the unreasonably harsh sentence imposed on former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin for exercising his democratic right to protest.

“This is yet another example of the utter disregard of the Lukashenko regime for the democratic rights of the Belarusian people. We call on the authorities of Belarus to show moderation in this case and respect the fundamental human rights of its citizens.

“Canada has initiated action to amend the Export Control List to place Belarus on the Area Control List (ACL) by pre-publication in the Canada Gazette. Once this process has been completed, a permit issued under authority of the Export and Import Permits Act will be required to authorize the lawful export of any goods from Canada to Belarus. Once Belarus is added to the ACL, permits for humanitarian goods will generally be approved.” 

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