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Former Belarusian presidential candidate detained while returning to country

Ales Mikhalevich was detained as a person who is on the wanted list and will be transferred to the Interior Ministry officers

Former Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich flickr.com/michalevic_press

Former Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich

© flickr.com/michalevic_press

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Russia interested in normalization of relations between Belarus and West

MINSK, September 8. /TASS/. Former Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich has been detained on Tuesday while returning to the country on the border at the Gudogay railway station. This information that came from Mikhalevich’s wife has been confirmed by the Belarusian State Border Committee.

"He was detained as a person who is on the wanted list and will be transferred to the Interior Ministry officers," the committee’s spokesman Alexander Tishchenko said.

In 2010, Mikhalevich was detained along with several other presidential candidates. In February 2011, he was released from the pretrial detention center of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) after agreeing to travel restrictions. The politician was under house arrest, but he managed to leave the country. He was granted political asylum in the Czech Republic.

Mikhalevich earlier wrote on his Facebook page that he would return to Belarus by train from Vilnius on September 8.

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