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Young opposition activist Andrey Tsyanyuta threatened with defamation charge for calling Lukashenka’s government illegitimate

Andrey Tsyanyuta, a young opposition activist who was called up for military service in the fall of 2009, has been threatened with criminal prosecution for allegedly dishonoring state symbols and defaming the president of Belarus, BelaPAN reports.

Colonel Pavel Pishchulaw made the threat after Mr. Tsyanyuta had written in his exercise book on ideology that the historic white-red-white flag and Pahonya emblem are the true national symbols of Belarus, and that Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government is illegitimate, said European Radio for Belarus.

Colonel Pishchulaw also threatened Mr. Tsyanyuta with a prosecutorial warning and gave him three days of extra duty. Mr. Tsyanyuta has recently spent 10 days in a guardhouse in Minsk as a punishment for an unspecified offense.