27 October 2006
KGB chief denounces European Parliament's decision to award Milinkevich Sakharov prize as biased

Stepan Sukhorenko, chief of the Committee for State Security (KGB), has denounced the European Parliament's decision to award Belarusian opposition leader Aleksandr Milinkevich its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought as biased.

"It is a biased situation and it cannot be described in any other way. As a citizen, not a government official, I am surprised at it. If there are no more persons to be awarded the Sakharov prize, Europe has become 'depleted," General Sukhorenko told reporters in Minsk on Friday.

Mr. Sukhorenko complained that KGB had much work to do amid the "West's interest" in Belarus. He accused the West of continuing interfering in the country's internal affairs and financing opposition groups following March's presidential election.

The Conference of Presidents, the political groups' leaders of the European Parliament, decided to award the prize to the Belarusian politician on Thursday.

Named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize was established in December 1985 by the European Parliament as a means to honor individuals or organizations who dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights and freedoms. The prize comes with a certificate and a check for €50,000.

The politician was nominated for the prize by the EP's Delegation for Relations with Belarus. He promised to spend the money on assistance to political victims in Belarus. //BelaPAN