Belarus moves jailed US citizen, two others to house arrest

WION Web Team Minsk, Belarus Oct 19, 2020, 08.00 PM(IST)

Lukashenko Photograph:( Reuters )

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Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Minsk on Sunday, as they have done every weekend since the presidential election, which the opposition says was rigged.

Belarus has released a jailed political consultant with US citizenship and two opposition figures into house arrest in a rare concession by veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko after months of protests.

A media report Monday said Vitaly Shkliarov, a consultant who has worked in the United States and Russia, was detained in Belarus in July and accused of organising public disorder in the runup to an August 9 presidential election.

He was shifted to house arrest, along with Lilia Vlasova, a member of an opposition body, the Coordination Council, and Ilya Saley, a lawyer for opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova, who were detained in a crackdown that followed the disputed vote.

The three were among a small group of jailed opposition figures that met Lukashenko on October 10 when he visited a KGB detention facility. 

Belarusian state media reported at the time that Lukahshenko discussed constitutional reforms with the opposition figures.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Minsk on Sunday, as they have done every weekend since the presidential election, which the opposition says was rigged.