US Belarus relations stir as lawyer is freed

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, sometimes referred to as “Europe’s last dictator,” has issued a pardon for prominent American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser, according to press reports. Yesterday also, a US congressional delegation arrived in Belarus for talks with Lukashenko.

The Russian-born Zeltser had been in custody since March of last year. He was arrested as he stepped off a plane in Minsk and charged with forgery of documents relating to the business interests of a relative of the late Georgian billionaire businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili. Later the charges against him were changed to narcotics smuggling, in connection with prescription medicines Zeltser brought with him. Zeltser is diabetic and suffers from other chronic ailments.

The US delegation, led by Maryland senator and chairman of the Helsinki Committee, Benjamin Cardin, attended the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius before visiting Belarus. According to AP, the Americans and the Belarusian president did not reach any breakthroughs. The news agency quotes Cardin as saying that “The only way to improve the relationship between our countries is for him [Lukashenko] to increase political freedom and respect for human rights.” Lukashenko urged the repeal of the US Belarus Democracy Act by the end of this year. He also claimed the US has a moral obligation to help his country recover from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. One-third of Belarus remains contaminated.

The US delegation was the highest-ranking party of Americans to visit Belarus in over a decade. Relations between Belarus and the West have been warming gradually over the last few months as Lukashenko has made limited reforms and released political prisoners, and the European Union and United States lifted their sanctions against Belarus in response. There is no longer an EU ban on travel by Belarusian officials, but US sanctions against Belarusian businesses remain in place.