Join the call for the immediate release of anti-nuclear campaigner detained in Minsk

Demand the immediate release of anti-nuclear activist Andrey Ozharkovskiy, detained in Belarus.

GLOBAL 2000/ Friends of the Earth Austria – Three activists were arrested in Minsk when they left their home/office on the day that Russian prime minister Medvedev arrived in Minsk to sign a contract for the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Belarus.

Four activists were sentenced, three of whom were detained. Russian nuclear physicist and journalist Andrey Ozharkovskiy, Belarusian journalist Tatyana Novikova, manager of the environmental organization EcoDom Irina Sukhy and human rights observer Michael Matskevich are openly against the plans to build a nuclear power plant near Astravetz close to the Lithuanian border.

Although Novikova and Matskevich have since been released, Ozharkovskiy remains in custody.

GLOBAL 2000 have cooperated with the aforementioned activists for years and know them as dedicated, non-violent people. Their activities are consistent with the right to free expression as outlined in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. GLOBAL 2000 call on the Belarusian government:

• to immediately free Andrey Ozharkovskiy,
• to drop all charges against all four campaigners,
• to explain its position on the arrests,
• to respect freedom of speech now and in the future.

Sign the letter to the Belarusian embassy in Vienna on the GLOBAL 2000 website (External Link: Information in German, scroll down for letter in English)

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