09/01/2025 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 9 January, the European Green Party expressed its “outrage” at the sentencing of Dmitry Kuchuk, former leader of the Belarusian Green Party, which was dissolved in 2023, to six years in a high-security penal colony and a fine of approximately €6,000 at the end of December. According to the party, this conviction “shows [a] worsening crackdown [...] ahead of elections” on 26 January. The European Green Party has called on the Belarusian authorities to release Mr Kuchuk immediately and unconditionally and “to cease the persecution of individuals exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”. It also reiterated its solidarity with all those in Belarus and in exile who are fighting for a democratic society in which human rights are respected and defended. (CG)