EU urges Minsk to provide jailed opposition politician Babariko with proper medical assistance

BRUSSELS. April 27 (Interfax) - The European Union is concerned by the health condition of imprisoned former Belgazprombank head Viktor Babariko, who had tried to run for president in Belarus in 2020.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in July 2020.

"We urge the authorities to ensure his safety and provide him with immediate and proper medical evaluation and assistance, and to allow him access to his lawyers and family," a spokesperson for the European External Action Service said in a statement published in Brussels on Thursday.

The document also contains a "demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Viktor Babariko and all political prisoners."

A number of Western media outlets reported on Thursday that Babariko had been transferred from his prison to a hospital in Novopolotsk.