METROPOLITAN
TADEUSZ
KONDRUSIEWICZ STILL NOT ALLOWED IN HIS HOMELAND
He
returned to Poland
Metropolitan
Tadeusz
Kondrusiewicz returned to Poland after spending a little more
than three hours
at the Kuznitsa Belostokskaya—Bruzgi border crossing. He is
still not permitted
in Belarus, with no explanation of the reason, the press
secretary of the
Belorussian Catholic Church, Father Yury Sanko, told TUT.BY.
The
diocesan vehicle
in which the metropolitan was riding crossed the Belorussian
border and the
driver traveled to Minsk. Metropolitan Kondrusiewicz returned to
Polish
territory.
"We will
request
an explanation at the State Border Committee and the MVD and we
will await the
return to his fatherland of the head of the Catholic Church of
Belarus,"
Yury Sanko said.
Tadeusz
Kondrusiewicz
was returning today, 31 August, from Poland where he was on a
business trip.
The State Border Committee refused comment. Meanwhile, TUT.BY is
learning
whether there can be any legal basis for preventing a
Belorussian from going
home.
We
recall that article
30 of the constitution of the republic of Belarus says:
"Citizens of the
republic of Belarus have the right to travel freely and choose a
place of
residence within the borders of the republic of Belarus, to
leave it, and to
return without hindrance." In addition, the right of return to
the country
of citizenship is guaranted by the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights of the
U.N.O. and the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights,
which Belarus
has ratified.
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