Maya Reiten, an Israeli woman who was arrested last month for cannabis possession in Belarus, has been freed from custody and is on her way to Israel, according to a joint statement by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman on Thursday.
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"Maya Reiten was released from prison in Belarus and is making her way to Israel with her brother," Lapid said and thanked President Isaac Herzog for helping to bring the woman back.
Lieberman and other officials from the Foreign Ministry were also involved in the efforts.
Reiten, a lawyer, was arrested on Nov. 4 at an airport in Minsk after authorities discovered 2.5 grams of cannabis in her luggage even though she has medical authorization to use the drug. Marijuana is illegal in the Eastern European country and being found in possession of it could potentially carry a five-year prison sentence.
The Israeli woman was permitted to return after paying a $2,500 fine.
Israeli programmer Dmitry (Daniel) Plashinskiy remains in custody in Belarus after he was arrested on Dec. 8 for allegedly following the opposition's Telegram pages that have been outlawed by President Alexander Lukashenko. Plashinskiy also has Belarusian citizenship.
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