MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2020) Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric expressed on Friday her concerns over the situation in Belarus, which is engulfed in unrest over the results of the presidential election, and called on the government to abstain from detaining peaceful protesters.
"The situation in Belarus is of ongoing concern. Although Belarus is not a member state of the Council of Europe, we have cooperated in several areas and Belarus is party to a number of our conventions. I therefore call on the Belarusian authorities to guarantee freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and to refrain from detaining peaceful demonstrators as well as from any kind of ill-treatment of protesters," Pejcinovic Buric said, as quoted in a press release by the Council of Europe.
The Council of Europe and its expert bodies are ready to cooperate with Minsk on the "necessary reform process," the official added, stressing that Belarus should immediately "fully engage with civil society."
