A rights advocate who has been ordered to leave Belarus described her deportation hearing as a circus and vowed to appeal.
A court in the Belarusian capital ruled on November 5 that Yelena Tonkachyova , a Russian citizen, must leave the country by December 5 and barred her from entering Belarus for three years.
Speaking to reporters in Minsk on November 6, Tonkachyova, head of the Lawtrend Legal Transformation Center, called the deportation hearing "a circus."
She said she would appeal the ruling.
Tonkachyova, who has lived in Belarus since 1985, was officially informed on October 30 that her residence permit had been annulled.
Authorities said the decision was based on her violation of a traffic regulation.
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