MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Belarus has deported a Russian newspaper journalist working on a report about the opposition in the authoritarian ex-Soviet nation.
Igor Karmazin, a reporter for Moskovsky Komsomolets daily, said Wednesday he was deported by the Belarusian secret police, which is still called the KGB.
Karmazin says he was detained by plainclothed agents after speaking to Irina Khalip, the wife of jailed former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov. He says his recordings were erased and he was barred from entering Belarus for a year.
KGB officials refused to comment.
Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko has relentlessly cracked down on dissent and free media during his 17-year rule. Lukashenko has relied on Russia’s political and financial support, but has often lashed out at Russian media.
