Freelance Italian journalist Claudio Locatelli has been released from police custody in Belarus after his arrest three days ago he said in a Facebook video posted on Wednesday from the Italian embassy in Minsk.
In the video, Locatelli said he had been given no food and little water for 60 hours while detained but was "well". He lauded Italian authorities for securing his freedom amid a "dramatic" situation in Belarus and said he would give further details of his ordeal when he returned to Italy.
"Italy's foreign ministry confirms that the Italian freelance journalist arrested by the Belarusian authorities in recent days has been released and is now in the Italian Embassy in Minsk," the ministry said in a statement.
Belarus has seen three days of protests which erupted hours after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of Sunday's presidential vote, which has been condemned by the EU as "neither free nor fair".
The protests have been met with a brutal police crackdown.
