Belarus Latest: 31 People Still in Prison Over Election Protests

More than a month after the disputed Presidential election, more than 30 people remain in prison in Minsk over the 19 December protests.

Four Presidential candidates --- Alexei Mikhalevich, Vladimir Neklyaev, Andrei Sannikov, and Nikolai Statkevich --- are still held.

The other 27 accused include candidates' representatives, social activists, journalists, and a former police officer who spoke out on behalf of the protesters.

There has been limited communication with detainees.

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Belarus Updates: Secretary of State Clinton Meets Activists

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Belarussian and Belarussian-American human rights activists, including the President of "We Remember", Irina Krasovskaya, and Belarus Free Theater co-founder Natalya Kolyada.

According to Washington's official statement, Clinton condemned the conduct of the 19 December Presidential election and the crackdown on political leaders, activists, civil society representatives and journalists. She stressed her concern for detainees and for their family members. Clinton promised, "The United States will continue its support for and engagement with the people of Belarus."

Minsk Central District Court has refused to withdraw the "preventive detention orders" for Presidential candidates Vladimir Neklyaev and Andrei Sannikov.

The state security service KGB has visited the wife of the detained Dmitry Bandarenko, Sannikov's election agent, to ask her “to influence her husband” in cooperating with authorities. Olga Bandarenka said that, if she agreed, her husband would be released on his recognisance and would be sentenced “to a term which would be not as long as Sannikov’s".

University student Yulian Misiukevich was taken for interrogation by the KGB on Thursday after university examinations. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Belarus Updates: A Cancelled Press Conference and Possible Sanctions

2045 GMT: More searches and interrogations by the security services today: Anastasia Loiko of the human rights group Vyasna, Alexander Makayev of the Businessmen's Movement, human rights activist and journalist Vladimir Khilmanovich, and activists Andrei Presnyakov and Alexander Petkevich.

1725 GMT: Presidential candidate Vitaly Rymashevsky, who was released yesterday from detention but then cancelled a press conference to avoid re-arrest (see 0940 GMT), has given a cautious interview.

Rymashevsky said he had written President Lukashenko but it was not possible to reveal the contents of the letters. He added that his first priority was to secure the freedom of other detainees.

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Belarus Updates: Presidential Candidate Rymashevsky Released

1000 GMT: The Belarus Prosecutor General has insisted that former Presidential candidates are not complaining about their conditions in detention.

0925 GMT: Presidential candidate Vitaly Rymashevsky has been released on condition that he not leave Minsk. Yuri Klimovich of Rymashevsky's staff has also been freed after 15 days of jail.

Four other opposition candidates, including Vladimir Neklyaev and Andrei Sannikov (see separate entry for video), are still in prison.

About 150 other detainees are expected to be released after serving 15-day sentences. Around 700 people were seized during protests on Election Day on 19 December.

Belarus Updates: The Latest Detentions

1435 GMT: Reports indicated five Presidential candidates --- Andrei Sannikov, Vladimir Neklyaev, Nikolai Statkevich, Vitaly Rymashevsky, and Alexei Mikhalevich have been charged with organizing activities which led to "riots" on Election Day on 19 December.

Under the order, the five men can be detained for two months while investigations continue.

The Guardian of London picks up on the story, reporting "at least four" candidates charged --- it does not list Mikhalevich.

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Belarus Updates: Detained Candidate Neklyaev Finally Sees His Lawyer

1124 GMT: Security Services have searched the home of the deputy chairman of the United Civil Party, Anatoly Lebedko.

Lebedko is in the KGB prison and is reportedly on hunger strike.

1120 GMT: On Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., a court will hear complaints by lawyers for detainees held by the state security service KGB.

Meanwhile, Presidential candidate Vitaly Rymashevsky was interrogated on Monday, with his lawyer managing to meet with him for a second time.

0730 GMT: Presidential candidate Vladimir Neklayev, beaten in the Election Day demonstrations of 19 December and then taken by security forces from his hospital bed, was finally allowed a visit from his lawyer on Monday afternoon.

Neklyaev's morale was "good", according to his lawyer Tamara Sidorenko; however, she added that Neklyaev was complaining of headaches and high blood pressure and "his face remains a huge bruise". Sidorenko said the Government must charge or release her client by Thursday. 

Belarus Updates: How Many Thousands Protested on 19 December?

1330 GMT: Youth activists Volha Damaratskaya and Mikhail Matsevich have been sentenced to 10 days of imprisonment.

Police have searched the apartments of Vladimir Kobets, the detained head of Andrei Sannikov’s presidential campaign team, and of Mikita Krasnou, coordinator of the “Citizen” youth campaign.

1130 GMT: Two members of the Minsk Elections Commission have filed a dissenting opinion over the Presidential results, citing violations in the balloting.

0745 GMT: Activist Vera Lozovskaya has been summoned to the KGB for interrogation.

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Belarus Updates: Security Forces Raid Opposition Offices and Homes

1210 GMT: Viasna has updated its list of opposition candidates and prominent political detainees facing charges of "organising riots" and "hooliganism":

1. Vladimir Neklyaev  - presidential candidate
2. Andrei Sannikov - presidential candidate 
3. Ryhor Kastusiou - presidential candidate
4. Aliaksandr Atroshchankau - Press-Secretary of Sannikov's election headquarters
5. Ales Mikhalevich - presidential candidate

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Belarus Updates: Threat of Prosecution Continues for Candidates and Activists

1905 GMT: Political analyst Svetlana Naumova of the Speak Truth campaign has been interrogated by state security service KGB about alleged plans to overthrow the government.

1900 GMT: The lawyer for opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyaev has still not seen her client, who was taken from a hospital bed on Sunday --- having been beaten unconscious by police --- and detain. Neklyaev's wife Olga Neklyaeva says she does not know if he is alive.

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Belarus Updates: Opposition Candidates Face 15 Years in Prison

2140 GMT: Writing in The New York Times, four Foreign Ministers --- Carl Bildt of Sweden, Guido Westerwelle of Germany, Karel Schwarzenberg of the Czech Republic, and Radek Sikorski of Poland --- have denounced the conduct of the Presidential election and suppression of protests. They continue with a call to suspend ties with President Lukashenko and to engage with the democratic opposition:

Continued positive engagement with Mr. Lukashenko at the moment seems to be a waste of time and money. He has made his choice — and it is a choice against everything the European Union stands for.

But there are many in Belarus who know that his clock is ticking — and are discreetly preparing for a better future.

Our many conversations with representatives of different parts of Belarus society have convinced us that the country wants to be part of a free and prosperous Europe. We must now deepen our engagement with the democrats of Belarus and those inside the government who disapprove of the fateful turn their country has taken. They must not be abandoned or betrayed as their country enters what might be a new dark era.

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