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Vitaly Shklyarov Went Abroad

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Vitaly Shklyarov Went Abroad
VITALY SHKLYAROV
PHOTO: YAROSLAV RADIONOV / APOSTROPH

Political strategist Vitaly Shklyarov was detained on July 29 in Homel.

As it became known to tut.by, the political strategist Vitaly Shklyarov left Belarus. On October 24, the release of Vitaly, who also has an American passport, was discussed over the phone by the usurper Lukashenka and the head of the US State Department. Mike Pompeo called for the complete release and permission for the immediate departure from Belarus of Shklyarov, who is involved in the "Tsikhanouski's case". Even before his arrest, Vitaly himself stated that he was not a consultant to Siarhei Tsikhanouski and had never worked for him.

Vitaly Shklyarov, a native of Homel, lived in the USA. He positions himself as "an American, German, and Russian political consultant, political strategist, election campaign advisor to Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Angela Merkel, Ksenia Sobchak, Dmitry Gudkov."

Shklyarov's wife is a US citizen; she works at the embassy in Kyiv. In this regard, Shklyarov has an American diplomatic passport.

Vitaly Shklyarov was detained on July 29 in Homel, where he came to visit his mother. For almost three months, he was kept in detention facility no. 1 on Valadarskaha street. As the lawyer reported, Vitaly suffered a coronavirus on his feet during his detention. On October 10, Shklyarov was among the participants in Lukashenka's meeting with political prisoners in the KGB pre-trial detention center, and he was soon released.

Vitaly Shklyarov's mother, in an interview with Ksenia Sobchak, spoke about the conditions of her son's detention.

- He, of course, lost a lot of weight, depressed. He sleeps badly and feels bad, - said Nina Shklyarova. According to her, her son told her that after the arrest, he was beaten. - And then, after some time, he says: his toe was broken.

After Vitaly Shklyarov, being in the KGB pre-trial detention center, wrote a letter to his wife in English (she is a US citizen, works at the embassy in Kyiv), "he was stripped naked, put him in 'stakhan'," said the mother of the political strategist.

- They communicate in English; he wrote her a letter. They took the letter, stripped him naked, put him in 'stakhan'." I only later found out what it is; I couldn't even imagine it. And they searched his room. In general, it was a nightmare.

Nina Shklyarova also remembered the day when her son was detained: for a long time, she could not find out where Vitaly had disappeared, and then the lawyer called and said that the son was in jail.

- It was a shock. I cried for two days; I could not even calm down. It's impossible to forget. This page is not turned over for me. I will never forget this. I raised my son; I never heard a bad word from him. I was always proud of him and noted: "I love you; I am proud of you." And so that they mocked him and I crossed it all out and forgot? No.

On October 24, Lukashenka had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. One of the conversation topics was the fate of Shklyarov, a political strategist with American citizenship.

- The Secretary of State called for the complete release and permission for the immediate departure from Belarus of the illegally detained US citizen Vitaly Shklyarov, - DW was told at the State Department. - In addition, Mike Pompeo has once again stated that the United States supports the Belarusian people's striving for democracy.

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