Mikhail Marynich (Belarusian: Міхаіл Марыніч; Russian: Михаил Маринич - Marinich) - a former minister of foreign economic affairs, and ambassador of Belarus to Latvia, currently an opposition leader in Belarus, who openly opposes authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenka.

He became an opposition politician when he ran against Lukashenka for the presidency in the 2001 elections. He is also considered to be an inspirational leader for Zubr, a youth resistance movement.

Currently he is in jail on dubious charges of stealing the computers from an NGO, of which he is himself a director. The computers belong to the US Embassy, and US Department issued a statement that they don't have any claims against Mr Marynich. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail, although the sentence was later cut to 3.5 years. Amnesty International declared that he is considered a prisoner of conscience.

In March 2005, still in jail, he suffered a cerebral stroke. A few days later, he married 33-year-old Tatiana Baranava, a long time colleague of his. He divorced his first wife after a marriage that had lasted 35 years. They have two sons.

External links and Reference

• BBC News article