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Former presidential contender Ivan Kulikow charged with embezzlement

 

Former presidential contender Ivan Kulikow, a laboratory chief at the Sosny nuclear research center located near Minsk, was charged on Thursday with large-scale embezzlement though abuse of power.

The crime carries a prison term of between three and 10 years.

The 61-year-old Kulikow was detained for 72 hours after his interrogation at Minsk's Zavodski police station on Monday. He will remain in a pretrial detention center now that he has been charged.

On Tuesday Dr. Kulikow's younger son was urgently called up for military service. Two days later it became known that his daughter had left Belarus for Russia for fear of persecution.

Ivan Kulikow withdrew from the presidential race during the signature-collection stage. His nomination group included 108 people. //BelaPAN