John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I both welcome Ms Tsikhanouskaya to the committee and commend her. I apologise for the pronunciation of her name. I know she is no stranger to Ireland. She alluded to the fact that when she was a child she was here with the Chernobyl Children International organisation. I commend her courage and fortitude in the face of what can only be described as the appalling and brutal crackdown by the Lukashenko regime against the pro-democracy protesters in the past year, following the very contentious election which saw him re-elected with close to 80% of the vote. Many organisations, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe stated clearly and categorically that the election was not transparent, free or fair. We continue to witness the arbitrary and illegal detention of many thousands of innocent protesters, with hundreds more injured by security forces and people like Ms Tsikhanouskaya being forced to leave their homeland.

Various figures have emerged of the numbers of political prisoners currently incarcerated. I heard it was in the region of 555 but Ms Tsikhanouskaya gave a different figure. She might elaborate on that and give an accurate figure on how many political prisoners are currently incarcerated. It is shocking to hear that another 19 civil society groups had their premises raided in recent days and that there were more arbitrary arrests and detentions. Organisations such as Amnesty International have reported that there was clear evidence of many detainees being tortured, which is of great concern. While the arrests and repressions continue it is important that the international community maintains a focus on Belarus.

I welcome Ms Tsikanouskaya's presence before the committee because it gives us an opportunity to ensure the issue is still under the spotlight. I have spoken many times on behalf of my party on Belarus and actively supported measures to end the repression, including EU sanctions. There were two motions before the Dáil and a motion was passed by the Seanad this morning which my colleague, Senator Gavan, spoke in support of. Democracy is not something that can ever be taken for granted. When challenged, it must be defended with vigour. I again commend Ms Tsikhanouskaya on her role in defence of democracy within Belarus.

Human rights must be kept to the forefront of every Government and so must the rule of law. My party and I have condemned the hijacking of the Ryanair aeroplane in May to detain a colleague of Ms Tsikhanouskaya. We must be willing to do all within our power to end human rights abuses wherever they are found. Ms Tsikhanouskaya should keep doing what she is doing. She has our total support for anything she can do to support democracy and human rights.