BELARUS: POLITICAL PRISONER KOZULIN RELEASED, MEETS WITH

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000678 SENSITIVE SIPDIS AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR BO SUBJECT: BELARUS: POLITICAL PRISONER KOZULIN RELEASED, MEETS WITH EMBASSY REF: A) MOORE-OPS CENTER E-MAIL 08/16/08, B) VILNIUS 627 ¶1. (SBU) As reported ref A, political prisoner and former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin was released August 16. Meeting with Charge and CONS/PAO briefly August 18, Kozulin said that without the United States he would be either dead or in jail. He thanked Charge for condolences on the death of Kozulin's father-in-law, expressed deep gratitude to the United States for efforts to secure his release, and provided a copy of a press release which he has already sent to the media (text para 3). While Kozulin has clearly lost a lot of weight in captivity, he was warm, emotional, and flushed with obvious energy. He had already met the Lithuanian Charge August 17 and expected to meet with the French Ambassador later August 18. ¶2. (SBU) Anticipating many future meetings, Kozulin did not discuss matters in detail, but did present his views on the importance of participation in the September parliamentary elections. He reserves the right for the opposition to choose to back out just before the voting takes place -- in the event the conditions for free elections are not met -- but does not agree with those who advocate boycotting the entire process. (Comment: Given Kozulin's credibility, that is a very important message at this time; there is an element of the democratic opposition that advocates an outright boycott of all parts of the elections. End comment.) ¶3. (U) Informal Embassy translation of Kozulin's press release: 2006 Presidential hopeful Aleksandr Kozulin was released August 16, ¶2008. The release was based on amnesty edict number 220 signed by the President of Belarus on August 15, 2008. It should be noted that Kozulin has served almost half of his illegal sentence. Kozulin was notified August 16 of his father-in-law's sudden death. The press service would like to once again stress that his release is in no way connected to this tragic event. Kozulin stated after the funeral that his release was not an act of humanity from authorities, but was done under harsh pressure from the U.S., EU, and the international and Belarusian democratic community. Statement from Kozulin: "I accept my release as a sign of justice, but I can't accept amnesty due to moral and ethical reasons. I have not committed criminally liable offenses; my family and I have suffered from the most severe repressions from authorities and the political regime. Such grounds for a release are humiliating not just for myself. Only my unconditional release and complete pardon as well as the immediate release of Andrey Kim and Sergey Parsyukevich may be considered as a truly real step taken by authorities towards a democratic society. I express my sincere gratitude to all who fought for my release, who are still struggling to release all of the political prisoners. I presume the remaining political prisoners will be soon released, and it will thus draw a line for the existence of the institution of political prisoners in Belarus". Kozulin also supposes that the most important [point] is that all the citizens and state agencies rigidly abide by laws without exception. His term in prison provided him with concrete grounds to state that the institutes of justice and law have been virtually undermined in Belarus. Media outlets will be able to learn more about Kozulin's plans at a press conference scheduled for August 20. We will later announce the time and venue. End text. MOORE LEADER