Accessibility links

Breaking News

Belarus Activist Freed From Jail


Political Prisoner Frantskevich Released In Belarus
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:01:35 0:00
MINSK -- Belarusian opposition activist Alyaksandr Frantskevich has been released from prison after serving nearly three years for "anarchist activities."

Authorities said Frantskevich will be placed under "preventive police supervision" following his release on September 3.

Frantskevich was arrested in September 2010, along with four other opposition activists, and charged with "hooliganism" and "intentional destruction of property." The five were accused of carrying out a number of attacks on administrative buildings, including throwing firebombs at the Russian Embassy in Minsk a month earlier.

The activists said their actions were aimed at drawing attention to the situation in Belarus, including police repression.

In May 2011, all five were found guilty of the charges and jailed. Frantskevich, now 23, was sentenced to three years in a penal colony. Human rights groups declared him a political prisoner.

With reporting by BelaPAN
  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL's Belarus Service

    RFE/RL's Belarus Service is one of the leading providers of news and analysis to Belarusian audiences in their own language. It is a bulwark against pervasive Russian propaganda and defies the government’s virtual monopoly on domestic broadcast media.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG