BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

30/06/2009

US senator: Belarus to free jailed American lawyer

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - A U.S. senator says the president of Belarus is promising to free an ailing American lawyer who was imprisoned in the former Soviet country last year on espionage charges.

Emanuel Zeltser, a diabetic, was sentenced to three years for commercial espionage in August 2008. His supporters called the charges politically motivated. In November, Zeltser was placed in a prison hospital after arriving at a penal colony in eastern Belarus. His lawyers said he was being denied medicine.

The United States has said freeing Zeltser would help the authoritarian government of Belarus improve ties with Washington.

Sen. Benjamin Cardin met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday.

Cardin said later that Lukashenko promised that Zeltser would be freed Monday.

Source:

http://www.fox12idaho.com/global/story.asp?s=10618038

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