Cormac Devlin
Question:376. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide an update on the status of persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32057/22]
View answerTuesday, 21 June 2022
Questions (376)
Written answers
I thank the Deputy for raising these important cases of political prisoners in Belarus. The journalist Roman Protasevich and his partner Sofia Sapega were detained by Belarusian authorities following the forced diversion of a Ryanair aircraft to Minsk in May 2021.
Reports indicate that Mr Protasevich and Ms Sapega were sent to prison until June and subsequently transferred to house arrest. Mr Protasevich appears to have been the subject of state violence and intimidation, and gave what observers suggested was a coerced confession on state television in June 2021. Mr Protasevich faces charges of causing civil disturbances, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. He has yet to go on trial and the status of the investigation against him is unclear.
In May of this year, a Belarusian court sentenced Ms Sapega to six years in jail, on politically-motivated charges of inciting social discord, and illegally collecting and disseminating information about the private life of an unnamed person without his consent.
The ongoing state persecution of Mr Protasevich and Ms Sapega is an affront to freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the fundamental principles of democracy. Unfortunately, they are not the only victims of Alexander Lukashenko’s campaign to suppress all opposition to his rule. Viasna, a human rights organisation, reports that there were 1,227 political prisoners in Belarus as of 16 June.
Ireland has repeatedly condemned the Lukashenko regime in international fora, including the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council. We have supported six packages of sanctions concerning Belarus, and co-sponsored the two most recent packages. We continue to engage regularly with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other figures in the Belarusian opposition. In terms of funding, we have provided €50,000 to the International Accountability Platform for Belarus to help ensure that those perpetuating this repression can one day be held accountable for their actions. We have also provided €150,000 to support independent media in Belarus.
Political prisoners are a specific focus of Ireland’s advocacy on Belarus, and I thank those Members of the Oireachtas who have sponsored political prisoners to help raise awareness of their plight.