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American lawyer Zeltser transferred to detention center on Valadarskaha Street

American lawyer and his secretary have been transferred from the detention center of the KGB (Committee for State Security) to the detention center on Valadarskaha Street in Minsk, the defense counsel of the pair, Dzmitry Harachka, told BelaPAN.

The two will soon be driven to a correctional institution, but it is not yet clear to which, Mr. Harachka said.
He said that the health condition of the lawyer, Emanuel Zeltser, remained very grave. "He does not have medications and I have failed to pass warm clothes for him in advance," he said.

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 few details of the case were disclosed to the public.

The pair were arrested upon their arrival in Minsk in March and put into the detention center of KGB.

The Supreme Court of Belarus upheld the prison terms on October 31.

The 54-year-old Zeltser suffers a very ill health.