Belarus suspends criminal proceedings against former presidential candidate

The investigative bodies in Belarus have suspended the criminal case against Ales Mikhalevich, accordng to the statement made by the politician in his Facebook account.

Mikhalevich stresses the case has been suspended - not closed. "Automatically, my written undertaking not to leave the country has been invalidated. However, I still remain in the status of the accused person. Investigation is no longer in process but the criminal case can be reopened at any moment," he wrote.

The former political refugee was the last person on the list of the so called 'December 19, 2010 riots' case. Mikhalevich, just like the majority of other presidential candidates, was detained in the night of December 20, 2010. After tortures and degrading treatment at a KGB jail, he was forced to sign his consent to collaborate with the secret service - something he made public immediately after his release on February 28, 2011. Shortly after, he secretly fled Belarus and received political asylum in the Czech Republic. Mikhalevch returned to Belarus on September 8, 2015 when all other political prisoners had been released.