There is still no official information on the case of the Belarusy i Rynak journalist Alyaksandr Alesin detained in late November by KGB. According to relatives, on December 8 it became known that he was charged. Charges are covered in the article 356 'High Treason' and 356.1 'The delivery of state secrets to a foreign state, a foreign organization or representative, or espionage'. The journalist and military analyst faces from 7 to 15 years in prison.

On 9 December Euroradio phoned the head of the KGB press service Artur Strekha and asked if he could tell anything about Alyaksandr Alesin, where he is and whether he has a lawyer?

"No, no comments yet," said Mr Strekh twice.

As was earlier reported by Radio Liberty, along with Alyaksandr Alesin, in the Minsk cafe the KGB detained an EU country diplomat. The latter had some secret documents and now investigators are trying to find out, if he had received them from the journalist.

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