MOSCOW (Reuters) – Belarus has released a jailed political consultant with U.S. citizenship and two opposition figures into house arrest, the Tut.by media outlet reported on Monday, in a rare concession by veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko after months of protests.
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 Aug. 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 Oct. 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. The Interior Ministry said police had detained 280 people at demonstrations on Sunday.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams)
