Chancellor Scholz: release of Belarusian political prisoners still important
August 2, Pozirk. The German federal government will continue to seek the release of all those unjustly imprisoned in Russian and Belarusian prisons because of their political position, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told journalists, commenting on yesterday’s prisoner swap with Russia.
The politician arrived at Cologne-Bonn airport to meet the plane carrying Russian political prisoners and others released as part of a deal with the Kremlin on August 1.
Rico Krieger, a German national sentenced to death in Belarus and pardoned by Alaksandar Łukašenka last month, was among them, yet not a single Belarusian political prisoner was included in the swap. Their release remains an important goal, Scholz stressed.
Berlin urges Moscow and Minsk to release all those unjustly arrested on political grounds, Steffen Hebestreit, spokesman for the German government, said earlier.
BNR Rada on prisoner swap: US, European leaders ignored Belarusians' suffering
August 1, Pozirk. Western governments ignored Belarusian interests in the negotiations on the prisoner swap with Russia, said the oldest Belarusian government in exile. The Rada of the Belarusian National Republic (BNR) said in a statement that the list of …