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Belarusian foreign minister, Russian deputy foreign minister discuss issue of two detained Russian citizens

The issue of two Russian citizens detained in Belarus over the December 19 post-election protest was the focus of a meeting between Belarusian Foreign Minister Syahrey Martynaw and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin in Minsk on Wednesday, Vadim Gusev, spokesman for the Russian embassy in Belarus, told BelaPAN.

The Russian foreign ministry is taking very active diplomatic steps to defend the legitimate rights and liberties of its citizens, Artyom Breus and Ivan Gaponov, Mr. Gusev said.

On February 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov once again called for the release of all opponents of the Belarusian government detained following the December 19 protest.

Earlier in the day, it became known that applications to drop the criminal proceedings against Messrs. Breus and Gaponov had been rejected.

The Minsk city police department’s Preliminary Investigation Directorate refused to inform the embassy of the reasons behind its decision to reject the applications by the Russians' lawyers.

The Directorate also refused to release Mr. Gaponov on his own recognizance.

"There is an impression that the fate of the detained Russians has already been determined," Mr. Gusev told BelaPAN on Tuesday. "The Belarusian side seems to have decided firmly to hold a show trial of the Russians, which we believe is inadmissible."

Mr. Gusev condemned the charges against the Russians as trumped up.

"Our fellow countrymen have already served a jail term for their presence in the square among thousands of Belarusians on December 19, 2010," he said. "Breus and Gaponov strongly resist any attempts by the prosecution to make them active participants of the so-called mass riot. As video and photographic material shows, the prosecution just does not have any relevant evidence. It means that the presumption of innocence, one of the fundamental principles of justice, is being offended."

The 27-year-old Breus and the 22-year-old Gaponov were among about a dozen citizens of Russia who were arrested during the December 19 protest. All the Russians were released on December 29, but Messrs. Breus and Gaponov were rearrested later that day as suspects in a so-called riot case, which was opened following the demonstration.

In an article titled “They Stormed House of Government,” which was published by the largest government newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya on January 15, the two young men were accused of taking an active part in clashes with police.