EU concerned over jailed Belarus activist

The EU slammed yesterday the jailing of an activist opposed to Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, saying the move appeared to be a new breach of human rights.

A court last week sentenced Dmitry Dashkevich, 25-year-old leader of the Young Front group, to 18 months in prison on charges of joining an unregistered group. It used tough new provisions adopted in the run-up to Mr Lukashenko's re-election in March.

"The accusations against Dmitry Dashkevich... seem to be politically motivated and show the Belarussian authorities' repeated unwillingness to respect international human rights standards, especially the right to a fair trial," it said.

The EU repeated in the statement its concern about the well-being of Alexander Kozulin, a jailed activist who challenged Mr Lukashenko's re-election bid in March and who is now thought to be in hospital following a hunger strike.

Western countries have accused Mr Lukashenko of curbing fundamental freedoms and denounced the March election, which sparked major protests, as blatantly rigged.

European governments toughened their stance on Belarus last month, adding four more officials to a list of 31 - including Mr Lukashenko - banned from entering the EU because of their involvement in a crackdown on democracy.