Italian accused of espionage deported from Belarus

Italian citizen Angelo Antonio Piu, accused of espionage by Belarussian court, was given to Italian authorities on Friday. It happened at Minsk-2 national airport. The Italian party acknowledged that the guilt of Piu "had been proved by the Belarussian court beyond doubt", said Fyodor Kotov, head of Belarussian state security committee's information and public relations department, to a RIA Novosti correspondent.

In 2001 Piu was sentenced to 4.5 years of imprisonment. On July 3rd, Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree on his amnesty, relieving Piu from serving the rest of the sentence.

It is not for the first time that Belarus has deported a foreign spy, Kotov added. German citizen Kristof Letz, also charged with espionage, was deported earlier.