Suspected foreign spy held in Belarus

Minsk, May 30 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A foreign national has been detained in Minsk on suspicion of being involved in espionage, the Belarusian security service (also known as the KGB) said Thursday.

"Last week, we detained a man in Minsk. He is suspected of gathering information for a foreign intelligence service," KGB Chairman Valery Vakulchik said.

Vakulchik said the suspect was detained while in the process of receiving information that was of interest to him.

The KGB press service confirmed that a foreign man has been detained on suspicion of passing information to foreign intelligence, but declined to comment further.

It said that "the fact and extent of his involvement are for the court to decide".

Further information is unlikely to be released while the investigation is ongoing, the KGB press spokesman said.

Belarus is often referred to in the Western press as "Europe's last dictatorship". In February, the Committee to Protect Journalists published a report calling the country "one of the world's most censored nations".

The US and EU have imposed a variety of sanctions against Belarusian entities and officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led Belarus since 1994.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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