MINSK. Sept 6 (Interfax) - Russian citizen Irina Vikkholm has been detained in Belarus, and she is currently in a detention facility in Brest, Russian embassy press secretary Alexei Moskalev said.
"Russian citizen Irina Vikkholm has indeed been detained, she is in a detention facility in Brest," Moskalev told Interfax on Monday.
The Belarusian authorities reported the Russian citizen's detention in accordance with the established procedures, he said.
"We have requested consular access to her. The consulate general in Brest is working on Irina's case, and its staff has already met with the Russian, although she didn't ask for a meeting," Moskalev said.
Vikkholm did not make any complaints about the living conditions in detention or her health during the meeting, he said.
"She has a lawyer. The consulate general's staff is keeping the situation under control," Moskalev said.
The Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office said last week that Brest prosecutors had sent to court a criminal case against a 58-year-old foreign resident, who was identified as V. and charged with deliberate dissemination of false information defaming the president of the Republic of Belarus and falsely accusing him of a grave crime.
"According to the case materials, V. posted a message on Twitter using her mobile phone on May 23, 2021 with the intention of damaging the authority of the state. It contained a photo of the president of the Republic of Belarus and slanderous information accusing him of 'terrorism and air piracy,'" the Prosecutor General's Office said.
The woman did not admit guilt during the preliminary investigation.