- Title: Germany urges Belarus to respect its citizens' freedoms
- Date: 2nd August 2021
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (AUGUST 2, 2021) (REUTERS) GOVERNMENT NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN, MARIA ADEBAHR, SAYING: "We have often and clearly criticised the treatment of civil society in Belarus, such as we have repeatedly seen in the last weeks: Harassment, persecution and intimidation of independent media and civil society and of course athletes are not immune to this. We sharply condemn this! And we continue to call on the authorities in Belarus to respect basic democratic rights, including freedom of the media, freedom of the press and freedom of expression and this applies to every citizen of Belarus and, of course, to sportsmen and sportswomen." MEDIA NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 16th August 2021 12:19
- Keywords: Belarus Olympics Poland Tokyo2020 asylum athlete
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EOL8093
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Germany on Monday urged Belarus to respect the basic rights and freedoms of its citizens after a Belarusian sprinter refused to board a flight in Tokyo and sought asylum.
"We call on the authorities in Belarus to respect basic democratic rights, including freedom of the media, freedom of the press and freedom of expression," a German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told a regular government news conference.
"This applies to every citizen of Belarus and, of course, to sportsmen and sportswomen," she added.
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya who refused to board the flight after she said she was taken to the airport by her team against her wishes, entered the Polish embassy in Tokyo. She was seeking asylum in Poland according to a member of the local Belarusian community in touch with her.
(production: Oliver Ellrodt, Oliver Denzer, Tanya Wood) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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