Belarusian Prosecutor Wants Two Years For Activist

MINSK -- A prosecutor has asked a Belarusian court to sentence an opposition activist to two years and eight months in jail.

Syarhey Kavalenka, 37, was arrested in December for alleged parole violations.

He was sentenced in January 2010 to three years of "limited freedom" for "illegally displaying the banned Belarusian national flag."

The trial, which started on February 21, has been paused several times due to health problems apparently caused by Kavalenka's ongoing hunger strike.

Poland's charge d'affaires in Belarus, Witold Jurasz, who attended the trial on February 24 and was permitted to briefly meet with Kavalenka, said he expected the European Union to state an official position on the case next week.