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House arrest of Uladzimir Nyaklyayew extended to five months

The house arrest of Uladzimir Nyaklyayew has been extended to five months, Uladzimir Bukshtynaw, a criminal defense lawyer for the former presidential candidate, told BelaPAN on Thursday.

The house arrest of Mr. Nyaklyayew has been extended for the same period as the investigation of a so-called mass riot case that was opened following the December 19 post-election protest, the lawyer noted.

It is not known what decision has been made with regard to the house arrest of journalist Iryna Khalip, the wife of another former candidate Andrey Sannikaw. Ms. Khalip’s lawyer, Hanna Bakhtsina, refuses to give any information relating to the case.

Owing to the fact that the investigation has been extended to five months, the detention periods and house arrests of the accused have also been extended, but the terms for which they have been extended are different, a law enforcement source explained to BelaPAN.

More than 40 people have been charged in the riot case. Former presidential candidates Andrey Sannikaw and Mikalay Statkevich remain in the KGB’s detention center, while three more ex-candidates arrested after the protest have been released. Vital Rymashewski, a co-chairman of the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democracy party, was freed on January 1 after he had written what he called an explanatory note to Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Mr. Nyaklyayew, leader of the "Tell the Truth!" campaign, was transferred to house arrest on January 29, and Ales Mikhalevich was released on his own recognizance on February 19.