USA, EU slam Rabkova trial sentences

September 7, BPN. The USA and the EU have condemned sentences to human rights activist Marfa Rabkova and other prisoners whose persecution is believed to be politically motivated.

The United States condemns the “disgraceful sentencing” of Rabkova and nine others, the US Embassy in Belarus tweeted.

“We stand united with our EU partners and the people of Belarus to hold the regime accountable for these egregious violations of human rights and dignity,” it wrote.

“The EU calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all 1,300 plus political prisoners,” the bloc’s special representative on human rights, Eamon Gilmore, tweeted.

The Minsk City Court on September 6 imposed lengthy prison sentences on two human rights defenders and eight anarchist activists. The Viasna Human Rights Center’s coordinator Marfa Rabkova was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and its volunteer Andrej Čapiuk to six.