BRUSSELS, March 6 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Shishlo) - The head of the world's largest regional security organization appealed Monday to the Belarusian leadership to ensure "fair and peaceful" presidential elections in the country.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, who is currently the chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said it was important that the Belarus authorities adhered to the fundamental freedoms of assembly and speech and refrained from interfering with the election process.
He also expressed concern over the detention of four local election observers and a candidate for president.
On March 2, police in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, detained Alexander Kozulin, a candidate in the March 19 presidential elections, who was about to undergo registration at the All-Belarusian Assembly. The prosecutors said the candidate had pushed a policeman during registration and then damaged a picture of the country's president at the police station.
The Belarus State Security Committee (KGB) previously reported that it had uncovered a state coup plot masterminded by the opposition and planned for March 20, the day after the presidential vote.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who Washington has dubbed the "last dictator in Europe", said the state had banned the activities of 72 non-governmental organizations suspected of plotting the coup.
