Javier SOLANA, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), condemned today the sentencing of Andrei Klimov to a year and a half of personal restraint by the court of the Tsantralny district of Minsk for organising a mass protest rally in Minsk on 25 March 2005. The sentence is an excessive penalty for organising what has been confirmed by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and others as non-violent democratic activity.
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This statement is attributable to Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman of Javier Solana.