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“The Attorney General of Belarus sent a request to the Attorney General of Lithuania to extradite Sviatlan Cichanouskaya to be prosecuted for crimes against the rule of law, public and state security,” the prosecution said in a statement.
The Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office states that it cannot comment on whether it has received such a request from Belarus.
“The Prosecutor’s Office cannot comment on requests for international legal assistance submitted by foreign states, as this is the principle of cooperation between states. Only the State, the institution that initiated such a request, can comment on the presentation or non-presentation of such requests for legal assistance, ”Elena Martinonienė, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office, told BNS.
S.Cichanouskaya withdrew to Lithuania after elections on August 9 last year, which were announced by authoritarian President Aliaksandr Lukashenko. His children were taken to Lithuania before the elections.
The opposition and Western democracies claim that the presidential elections in Belarus were rigged. Since the elections, Belarus has been plagued by massive protests by opposition supporters, which the regime is trying to put down with harsh measures.
Law enforcement loyalists claim to have received “information that people in the immediate vicinity of S. Cichanouskaya are preparing for mass disturbances and occupation of state institutions in the Gomel area.”
S.Cichanouskaya emphasizes that she has always advocated only for peaceful methods.
“During the pre-election program and during the protests that lasted several months after the elections, Sviatlan Cichanouskaya’s team communicated and continues to communicate with many Belarusians.” Some of them have always been and still are focused on radical measures, but Sviatlana Cichanouskaya it has never been involved in the development of such plans, “she said in a comment to her office.
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