Vitali Shkliarov, an American citizen who was detained in Belarus for three months, was released Wednesday and returned to the United States.
Mr. Shkliarov, who holds citizenship from both the U.S. and Belarus, was arrested this summer during a family visit and was charged with assisting in the formation of illegal rallies.
He was critical of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko leading up to the August presidential election that caused waves of protests and unrest. Mr. Shkliarov is a political consultant in the U.S. and has worked on campaigns for Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama.
“After three months of wrongful detention and house arrest, Mr. Shkliarov has been reunited with his family and has arrived in the United States,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
“As the President and I have made clear,” he continued, “we will not tolerate foreign governments wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens.”
