Merry Christmas! We wish happiness, success and inspiration to you and your families.

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Today 10 political prisoners are staying in prisons in Belarus. We urge you to support people who have been sacrificed themselves for freedom of Belarus, and congratulate prisoners of conscience on Christmas and the New Year.

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A campaigning period for a candidate for deputy in Rafieu election constituency No.23 of Minsk Aleh Korban has started in prison. A member of the United Civil Party was arrested for 15 days for participation in a rally of solidarity with political prisoners on December 10, on the Human Rights Day.

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The court of Furnzenski district has upheld the decision of supervisory commission of Frunzenski district executive commission of Minsk on early conditional release of the activist of observation campaign at elections “Partnerstva” Tsimafei Dranchuk. The Charter’97 press-center has been informed about that by the father of the political prisoner, Valery Dranchuk. As said by him, Tsimafei is to be released most likely on December 26.

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A Lithuanian court on Friday decided to extradite a Belarusian man wanted in Poland for espionage. The Vilnius District Court, acting on a request from Polish prosecutors, said 40-year-old Sergey Monich would be handed over to Poland in accordance with the European Convention on extradition and Lithuanian law.

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The Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has expressed protest at the "inhuman treatment" of its representative in Vitebsk. Human rights defender Pavel Levinov was denied access to the ballot in January`s elections for the Vitebsk city and regional soviets on what many believe are formal grounds.

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In a letter addressed to the Belarusian President, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and copied to the General Procurator of Belarus, Amnesty International has today called for the immediate and unconditional release of Alyaksandr Kazulin, leader of the Belarusian Socialist Democratic Party, Hramada, former presidential candidate and former rector of the Belarusian State University. The organization believes that Alyaksandr Kazulin is a prisoner of conscience, and that his continuing imprisonment is a violation of his rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression.

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On December 21 the family of the former candidate for presidency in Belarus, a political prisoner Alyaksandr Kazulin has received his statement that he finished a hunger strike. The statement was written on December 11 at 4 p.m., in the end of the 53rd day of his political hunger strike, before he wrote an official statement to the administration of Vitsebsk penal colony No.3.

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Co-chairmen of the public human rights Russian-Belarusian commission by the Council of Russian president on promotion of human rights and civil society institutions are concerned over prosecution of political and public activists in Belarus. “We are extremely concerned over constant criminal prosecution of political and civil opponents of the current regime in Belarus,” the statement signed by the co-chairmen of the commission Sergei Karaganov and Valery Pavlov reads.

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A state concern Belneftechim has demanded Mozyrsky NPZ refinery to transfer to the Belarusian National Development Fund $100 million, Kommersant writes. Analogous demands have been received by other structures of Belneftekhim, however, unlike them, Mozyrsky NPZ is not fully state-owned, as 42.5% of its shares belong to Russian company Slavneft.

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Today a political prisoner Andrei Klimau has been released from a correctional labour facility of an open type in the village of Barshchouka, Rechytsa district, Homel region, Radio Svaboda informs. At 9 a.m. he was given back his documents, a passport and an official document about his release.

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