Foreign affairs minister Uri Rosenthal told Belarus on Tuesday it should release all its political prisoners, including presidential candidate Andrej Sannikov. He was speaking at a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Lithuania.

Rosenthal said he is very concerned about the human rights situation in Belarus, which he calls ‘unacceptable’. Some 50 activists, arrested in a clampdown following a controversial election last year, are still thought to be in jail.
In his talk, the minister mentioned the importance of democracy and freedom of expression and added that ‘a free press is essential to democracy and stability’.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton made a similar call at the meeting, news agency Reuters reported.