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US state secretary follows case of imprisoned lawyer Zeltser, spokesman says

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is following the case of American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser imprisoned in Belarus, Robert Wood, acting spokesman of the US Department of State, said on February 5.

“She wants to know what we can do to help, what further we can do to help,” he said.

Mr. Wood stressed that Washington would continue calling on the Belarusian authorities to release the lawyer, who is suffering a very ill health, on “humanitarian grounds.”

The US embassy in Minsk continues to provide “full consular services for Mr. Zeltser, including regular prison visits, protesting incidents of abuse, communicating with his family, with his lawyer, and making sure that he has access to required medication,” he said.

The 54-year-old Zeltser is serving a time in Mahilyow’s correctional institution.

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.

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