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Belarus Opposition Activist Held on Treason Charges

© RIA Novosti . Ivan Rudnev / Go to the mediabankBelarus Opposition Activist Held on Treason Charges
Belarus Opposition Activist Held on Treason Charges - Sputnik International
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A Belarusian opposition figure has been detained on suspicion of high treason, the Belarusian Christian Democratic Party (BCDP), said on Tuesday.

MINSK, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - A Belarusian opposition figure has been detained on suspicion of high treason, the Belarusian Christian Democratic Party (BCDP), said on Tuesday.

BCDP activist Andrei Gaidukov, 22, was detained in Vitebsk and immediately sent to a KGB pretrial detention center in the capital, Minsk, party leader Tatyana Severinets said.

Another party activist, Ilya Bogdanov, was also detained but released after pledging not to leave the city.

Severinets said neither man played a prominent role in the party's formation.

“I have no idea why they have been charged under such a serious statute [of the criminal code],” she said.

The high treason charge (Article 356) provides for up to 15 years in prison.

Belarusian law enforcement agencies have not yet commented on the case.

Belarus is currently the target of EU sanctions over alleged human rights abuses and a failure to respect democratic principles. Under the sanctions, which the EU extended for another year in mid-October, some 240 Belarusian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, and 32 companies are currently subject to travel bans and asset freezes within the EU.

The West accuses the Belarusian authorities of persecuting the political opposition and denying basic rights and freedoms, in particular freedom of expression.

The EU was also critical of the September parliamentary elections in Belarus, in which all 110 seats went to pro-Lukashenko candidates. Brussels said the elections failed to meet international democratic standards.

Belarus has been subject to EU sanctions since 1996, two years after Lukashenko became president, though they were temporarily suspended in 1999 and 2008.

Lukashenko maintains that pressure on Minsk is pointless and said he hopes the European Union will try to regain its credibility as a serious partner and a good neighbor.

 

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