Belarus: Ex-candidate's wife allowed to leave country
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 14 February 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Belarus: Ex-candidate's wife allowed to leave country, 14 February 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/51276edfa.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
February 14, 2013
By RFE/RL's Belarus Service
Iryna Khalip
MINSK – The wife of former Belarusian presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau has been allowed to temporarily leave Belarus.
A parole board in Minsk informed Iryna Khalip that she can visit her husband in Britain before April 3.
Sannikau received political asylum there last year.
Khalip will also be allowed to travel to Moscow to visit her employer, the "Novaya gazeta" weekly.
Khalip was banned from traveling abroad in May 2011 after receiving a two-year suspended prison sentence for involvement in protests following Belarus's disputed 2010 presidential election.
Sannikau officially came a distant second behind authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Authorities said Lukashenka won almost 80 percent of the vote.
Sannikau was arrested after the election and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of organizing mass disturbances.
He was pardoned and released in April.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
