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Young opposition activist Haydukow released after being charged with minor offense

Andrey Haydukow, a prominent young opposition activist who was arrested Friday in his home city of Navapolatsk, Vitsyebsk region, over the distribution of leaflets about political prisoners in Belarus, was released from the police station after a charge sheet was drawn up against him.

The 25-year-old member of Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD) was charged with organizing an “unsanctioned mass event” under Article 23.34 of the Civil Offenses Code, reported the BCD press office.

Mr. Haydukow served an 18-month prison sentence in what was widely viewed as a politically motivated case and was freed in May 2014.

After being arrested in November 2012, he was found guilty of attempting to “establish contacts with foreign intelligence agencies without signs of high treason.”

Mr. Haydukow, a leader of an unregistered organization called the Union of Young Intellectuals, was initially charged with high treason, which carries penalties ranging from up to 15 years in prison to death.

The fifth-year student at the chemical engineering and technology department of Polatsk State University and fitter in charge of instrumentation at the Naftan oil refinery in Navapolatsk allegedly attempted to establish contact with the Central Intelligence Agency and offered to provide it with sensitive information. // BelaPAN