Belarus Charges Defense Journalist with Treason and Espionage
Belarus has detained a leading defense journalist and charged him with treason and espionage, his daughter told Agence France-Presse on Monday after she was summoned to the KGB security services.
Alexander Alesin has been accused of "giving out state secrets to a foreign country, organization or its representative, or espionage," his daughter Olga told AFP.
Alesin went missing in late November and colleagues and rights organizations raised the alarm saying it was likely he had been detained by the security services in the tightly controlled ex-Soviet country.
Alesin, who writes for the independent Minsk newspaper "Belarusians and the Market", is a well-known expert on defense and the arms trade.
Alesin's daughter said she was summoned to the KGB security service, which has not changed its Soviet-era name, on Monday.
She said she was told that the main figure in the case was not her father but a foreign diplomat who remains free and protected by diplomatic immunity.
"It's possible that they will release my father if he signs an undertaking not to travel, he has heart problems," she added.
The security services had refused to comment on what had happened to Alesin.
Alesin's newspaper reported Monday that he had been arrested on November 25, saying "we consider what has happened to be a misunderstanding. In journalist circles, Alesin has an irreproachable reputation."
Source: Agence France Presse
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