Belarus top human rights activist arrested

The European parliament has expressed concern after Belarussian authorities arrested Ales Belyatsky, one of the country's most prominent human rights activists, over alleged tax evasion. Belyatsky, head of the human rights group Vesna, was arrested on August 4, a Vesna activist said. "His apartment and office were raided. A computer and several documents were seized. His country house was also raided," Anastasia Loiko said. He is accused of evading taxes, a charge that carries a maximum seven-year sentence. European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said he had learned the news with "great concern." "Dragging people of the streets takes us back to the dark communist past that we do not want repeated ever again. This is unacceptable on our continent in the 21st century," Buzek said in a statement. "I urge the Belarusian authorities to release Ales Belyatsky and the other unjustly detained political prisoners. Such repressive actions will only bring people closer together uniting them to the final goal that of freedom and liberty. Change will eventually come to Belarus as it has come to the shores of North Africa," he said. Nikolai Khalezin, head of the Belarusian Free Theater, said in his blog that a month ago Lithuania gave Minsk sensitive information about the bank accounts of Belarusian rights organizations registered there as well as individual activists, including Belyatsky. Khalezin said it was customary for Belarusian rights groups to open bank accounts in Lithuania because there were too many hurdles at home. This used to be safe, but things have changed in the past few months "thanks to the open support declared by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite for the policies of [Belarusian President] Alexander Luskashenko." "It is not known who gave that order but now it is not only Ales Belyatsky and the rights center Vesna that are under pressure, it is a lot of Belarusian independent organizations and social activists," Khalezin said. Hundreds of people were arrested throughout Belarus last month for taking part in street protests against Lukashenko's authoritarian 16-year rule. Reports say demonstrators were beaten and manhandled as they were rounded up and loaded into police buses. Lukashenko, who was reelected for a fourth term in what observers described as a deeply flawed vote in December, said the protests were an attempt to ferment a revolution and overthrow him, but this was "not going to happen." The former Soviet republic is gripped by a severe financial crisis, and was forced to devalue its currency by 36% in May.