The Belarusian authorities released a St. Petersburg press photographer on Wednesday who was jailed for rioting after the country's presidential elections on Sunday, a fellow journalist said.
"We received confirmation from the court that he had been released," the journalist said.
Alexander Astafyev was among nine Russians detained in the riots, which broke out in Minsk as news emerged that long-standing leader Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the West, had won a fourth term in office.
More than 600 protesters were detained and many were injured as Belarusian police brutally dispersed the demonstration when protesters tried to storm Parliament.
The Belarusian Foreign Minister said Asafyev, one of several journalists detained in the riots, had not received accreditation to cover the presidential elections. Astafyev has declared a hunger strike in protest.
Russian diplomats visited five of the nine detained Russians on Wednesday, Astafyev's colleague said, adding that they are being held in normal conditions. The diplomats are expected to visit the rest of the detainees on Thursday afternoon.
The Russian Embassy in Minsk has requested that the Belarusian authorities release the remaining Russian detainees.
Irina Khalip, a journalist for the Belarusian Novaya Gazeta, was detained in the protest along with her husband, presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov. She is one of 17 people, including six opposition presidential candidates, who face criminal prosecution for allegedly organizing the riots.
The paper's editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, said he believed the detention was a response to Khalip's investigations into human rights abuses in Belarus.
He said that video footage proved that Khalip was not involved in any hooligan activities during the unrest.
ST. PETERSBURG, December 22 (RIA Novosti)
