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[Date] His Excellency President Alexander Lukashenko220016, Minsk, K. Marx str., 38 The Republic of BELARUS Your Excellency, I am writing to express my concern about the growing suppression of free expression in the country and the closure of independent media outlets. I am also extremely worried by the use of criminal libel to suppress criticism of the authorities. I respectfully remind the Belarusian authorities of their commitments to the principles of freedom of expression as guaranteed by the United Nations International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, to which Belarus is a state party. I therefore urge you to drop Articles 367, 368, and 369 of the Criminal Code, which provide additional protection to the president and state officials from libel and insult, so as to bring the Criminal Code in agreement with the Belarusian Constitution that guarantees equality of all before the law. I also urge you to reconsider the draft law on the press, which will further restrict a possibility to express opinions differing from the official ones. And, finally, I ask for the immediate and unconditional release of Yury Bandazhevsky. Sincerely,[Your name and signature]
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