MINSK, July 30: A US lawyer went on trial behind closed doors in Belarus on Thursday charged with carrying forged documents, drug offences and industrial espionage — offences that could carry up to seven years in prison.Emmanuel Zeltser, a New York-based specialist in Russian law and organised crime, was arrested in March at the height of a diplomatic row between ex-Soviet Belarus and the United States.

He was initially charged with using forged documents, and the other accusations were added subsequently.

“Under Belarussian law, he faces up to seven years in prison if found guilty,” said his lawyer, Dmitry Goryachko.

He gave no details of the court’s first, hour-long sitting on grounds that the trial was closed. Also standing trial on the documents charge was Zeltser’s secretary, Vladlena Funk.

“My client’s physical state can be described as stable but serious,” Goryachko said.

Belarus, accused by western countries of repressing basic human rights, asked the US ambassador to leave in March following US sanctions against its oil producer, Belneftekhim.

The drugs charges were added after Belarus’s security service, still known by its Soviet-era KGB initials, said more than 100 tablets found to be narcotics had been discovered on Zeltser.

Zeltser’s lawyer said the drugs were to treat a back ailment.

The US State Department has expressed concern over Zeltser’s detention.—Reuters