Watchdog

Two prisoners in Georgia have declared a hunger strike until the government frees those who they say are political prisoners, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports.

Melor Vachnadze and Vaxtang Maisaia began their hunger strike on August 17.

Vachnadze was arrested one year ago on charges of fraud and was given a four-year sentence. Vachnadze played an active role in protests following the 2007 presidential election.

Maisaia, a former Georgian representative to NATO and military expert, was arrested in May 2009 and charged with spying, which carries a 20-year prison term. His trial has been deemed "confidential" by the Georgian government because it involves espionage.

Journalists and human rights activists have not been informed of the proceedings.

Ucha Nanuachvili, director of the Human Rights Center in Tbilisi, told RFE/RL he doubts the hunger strike will be effective.

"Without external presssure -- without pressure from the European Union, the United States, or Western countries -- it's impossible to change something here [in Georgia]," he said.

Nanuachvili said there are currently more than 60 political prisoners in Georgian prisons.

A detained Belarusian rights activist has been officially charged with fraud, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports.

Mikhas Bashura, 35, is a member of the Tell the Truth campaign. He was detained by Minsk police on August 6. According to the official indictment on August 16, Bashura lied to a Minsk bank about his income in 2008 when helping his wife get a mortgage.

Tell the Truth activists say Bashura's case is politically motivated and connected with his active participation in the campaign.

The Tell the Truth campaign was organized by the Moving Forward movement, which is led by Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu. It encourages Belarusians to speak out about social problems.

Tell the Truth members across the country collect information reported by the authorities that the movement deems to be false. The group's findings are posted on the website zapraudu.info.

Nyaklyaeu and two other Tell the Truth members were arrested in May following nationwide raids on the movement's offices and the homes of several members.