EU calls detention of senior diplomat in Belarus ‘deplorable’ By Reuters

KYIV (Reuters) – The European Union on Tuesday condemned the detention of a senior diplomat to Belarus who attended the trial of opposition activists within the capital Minsk as “unacceptable and deplorable”.

Evelina Schulz, chargée d’affaires of the EU delegation in Minsk, was detained by Belarusian police for greater than two hours as she exited courtroom after the general public studying of verdicts in an in any other case closed-door trial, a spokesperson for the EU’s diplomatic service stated.

“This unlawful detention of a diplomat is a critical breach of the Vienna Conference on diplomatic relations … and undermines their safety in Belarus,” Peter Stano, spokesperson for the European Exterior Motion Service (EEAS), stated in an emailed assertion.

The Belarus international ministry didn’t instantly reply to an emailed request for remark.

The EEAS stated it had summoned the Belarusian chargé d’affaires in Brussels for an evidence of the incident.

Ten Belarussian activists, a lot of whom recognized themselves as anarchists, had been sentenced from 5 to 17 years in jail, human rights group Spring 96 reported. The EEAS described the sentences as “unjustifiably lengthy and harsh.”