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Charges Against Fugitive Belarusian Activist Dropped


Exiled Belarusian journalist and activist Natallya Radzina
Exiled Belarusian journalist and activist Natallya Radzina
KOBRYN, Belarus -- Belarusian authorities are reported to have dropped charges against another prominent opposition activist who was being prosecuted over postelection protests, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports.

Natallya Radzina, the editor of the Charter97.org website, was charged with participation in an unsanctioned mass protest against the results of the December 19 presidential election, which gave incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka another term.

She fled Belarus four months ago to avoid trial and subsequently asked for political asylum in Lithuania.

Radzina's relatives told RFE/RL on August 26 that they received an official letter from Minsk City's interior affairs department saying that all charges against her have been dropped "due to the absence of criminal deeds in her case."

Radzina's parents said that their daughter will not return to Belarus any time soon, as "it is not completely clear whether there will be no more new charges against her."

On August 26, the leader of the opposition United Civic Party, Anatol Lyabedzka, received a similar letter from the Minsk police department saying that protest-related charges against him had been dropped.

Read more in Belarusian here
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