Zeltser appeals to UN human rights body

US lawyer Emanuel Zeltser imprisoned in Belarus' Mahilyow has filed an urgent complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.


Zeltser says that the Belarusian government is "violating his civil and political rights during his detention in Belarus as a political prisoner," BelaPAN reported.

On August 11, Mr. Zeltser was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of "attempted industrial espionage" and the use of fake documents. His secretary, Russian national Vladlena Funk, was sentenced to one year in prison on the same charges. The Minsk City Court held the trial behind closed doors and no details of the case were disclosed to the public.