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Dear President Lukashenka,

According to our information, six people are imprisoned for political reasons in Belarus at the moment:

• Ihar Alinevich, detained on 27 November 2010, sentenced to 8 years in prison;
• Mikalai Dziadok, detained on 3 September 2010, sentenced to 5.5 years in prison;
• Artsiom Prakapenka, detained on 17 January 2011, sentenced to 7 years in prison;
• Yury Rubtsou, detained on 22 December 2014, sentenced to 1.5 years in prison;
• Mikalai Statkevich, detained on 20 December 2010, sentenced to 6 years in prison;
• Yauhen Vaskovich, detained on 17 January 2011, sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Holding political prisoners and the persecution of dissidents are serious human rights violations.

Being a country that has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Belarus is obligated to guarantee the right to a fair and impartial trial to all citizens and must also guarantee this right while the persons on the list above are on trial.

We would like to remind you of the international obligations of Belarus and urge you to ensure the human rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association to all people in Belarus.

We urge you to release all political prisoners in Belarus immediately and unconditionally!

This petition is a joint action of the Swiss-German human rights organisation "Libereco - Partnership for Human Rights", the Belarusian "Viasna Human Rights Centre" and the independent watchdog organisation "Freedom House".