Watchdog

Jailed Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been allowed to see her children in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for the first time in weeks.

Sotoudeh's husband, Reza Khandan, wrote on the Facebook social-media site that Sotoudeh was given permission to see her 5-year-old son, Nima, and 12-year-old daughter, Mehraveh, for several minutes on November 12.

Mehraveh reportedly said that her mother was continuing her hunger strike.

Sotoudeh stopped eating on October 31 after prison authorities banned her relatives from visiting her.

Last month, Sotoudeh was awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for 2012.

Jailed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi also won the prize.

MINSK -- The chief editor of an independent magazine in Belarus says he is currently abroad and fearing for his safety.

Valer Bulhakau, who works for "ARCHE" magazine, told RFE/RL on November 13 that he decided not to return to Belarus after a state-run television channel broadcast two long reports calling his recent book on World War II "potentially extremist."

Last month, Bulhakau was fined for "illegal business operations."

Bulhakau says the Financial Police launched investigations into his magazine's economic activities, which he says could be an attempt to legitimize his politically motivated arrest.

Bulhakau did not reveal his current location.

Last week, Belarusian opposition activist Alyaksandr Atrashchankau refused to return to Belarus from Poland fearing for his safety.

In late October, former presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau received political asylum in Britain.