Belarus Activist Freed From Jail

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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