Former presidential candidate Uladzimir Nyaklyayew has been officially warned for making a foreign trip last week despite being banned from leaving Belarus.
Along with several other opposition politicians, Nyaklyayew stayed in Warsaw between October 27 and 30 to take part in a series of meetings with high-ranking foreign officials on the sidelines of the September 29-30 Eastern Partnership Summit.
On May 20, a district judge in Minsk sentenced Nyaklyayew to a suspended two-year prison term with two years' probation, finding him guilty of instigating disturbances in connection with a post-election protest staged in Minsk on December 19, 2010.
On September 9, a judge imposed a number of "additional restrictions" on Nyaklyayew's freedom, prohibiting him from organizing or taking part in demonstrations, leaving Minsk without permission from law enforcement agencies and traveling abroad until the expiry of his sentence. He was also ordered to stay at home between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Nyaklyayew was notified of the warning when he came to the Leninski district police station in Minsk on October 3. If Nyaklyayew violates the terms of his probation, the police may ask the court to revoke the suspension of his sentence, the warning says.
"Probation officers made me give a written account of what had happened," Nyaklyayew told BelaPAN. "I said that I didn't consider myself guilty, as my conviction had been unlawful and politically motivated. I refuse to play along with authorities and perform the role of a criminal. I will continue to consider myself a free person."
