Council of Europe head calls on Minsk to free political prisoners, ensure right to healthcare

December 7, BPN. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić expressed extreme concern “w/deterioration of the situation in Belarus.”

“My thoughts are with Maryja Kaleśnikava,” she tweeted on December 6.

On behalf of the Council of Europe, she urged Minsk to “liberate all political prisoners” and ensure their right to medical care.

Law enforcers placed former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka’s campaign manager Maryja Kaleśnikava in Homiel’s emergency hospital last week. She was operated on on November 28. This past weekend, they transferred her back to the penal colony.

Babaryka’s campaign said Kaleśnikava’s hospitalization with a perforated ulcer and peritonitis was a result of ill-treatment in prison.

As of December 7, human rights defenders identified at least 1,441 political prisoners.