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US Analyst Among Political Prisoners in Belarus

Charles Maynes

   MOSCOW - A Washington, D.C.-based political analyst faces an uncertain
   future in Belarus -- where he remains in prison charged with inciting
   mass unrest in the run-up to rigged elections that triggered a wave of
   protests in challenge to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year rule.

   Vitali Shkliarov, 44,'¯is a Belarus native married to an American who
   news reports say works at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. He was arrested
   July 29while visiting his parents in his hometown of Grodno.'¯

   KGB agents detained him as he went out to the store to buy a watermelon
   for his son.'¯'¯He managed to issue one quick message on his popular
   Telegram channel: "[1]arrested."'¯'¯

   Authorities accuse him of working with an opposition blogger and
   would-be presidential candidate, Sergey Tikhanovsky, to sponsor "group
   actions that grossly violate public order."'¯

   Tikhanovsky was barred from the race and later arrested while passing
   out leaflets in support of a surrogate candidacy by his wife, Svetlana
   Tikhanovskaya, who has since emerged as the face of the opposition.'¯

References

   1. https://t.me/vShkliarov

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