Zeltser's secretary briefs US authorities about Belarus prisons
Vladlena Funk has briefed the US authorities about the conditions of Belarusian prisons. She was invited to the State Department and the US Congress, lawyer Emmanuel Zeltser's secretary said in an interview with Belapan.
Funk and Zeltser were detained upon arriveal in the Minsk airport in March 2008. They were tried and found guilty of using the falsified documents and of attempted commercial espionage. Zeltser was sentenced to three years in prison. Funk received one year. On March 20, 2009 she was freed and deported from Belarus, declaring her persona non grata.
She described the year spent in the Belarusian prisons as "hard", calling the detention facility on Valadarskaga street in Minsk "the most draedful picture" in her life. According to Funk, the trial was nothing by a farce.
She stressed that she had not yet received a copy of the sentence and could not appeal the actions of the Belarusian authorities, which she reckons were illegal.
Funk and Zeltser were detained upon arriveal in the Minsk airport in March 2008. They were tried and found guilty of using the falsified documents and of attempted commercial espionage. Zeltser was sentenced to three years in prison. Funk received one year. On March 20, 2009 she was freed and deported from Belarus, declaring her persona non grata.
She described the year spent in the Belarusian prisons as "hard", calling the detention facility on Valadarskaga street in Minsk "the most draedful picture" in her life. According to Funk, the trial was nothing by a farce.
She stressed that she had not yet received a copy of the sentence and could not appeal the actions of the Belarusian authorities, which she reckons were illegal.
