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“Siarhei Cichanouski has been indicted,” the committee’s website said, citing a blogger who ran for president last year for organizing mass riots, inciting public discord, obstructing the work of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and organize serious violations of public order.
Election officials last year rejected Cichanouski’s attempt to run for president. Instead of her husband, S. Cichanouskaja ran for office, but when authoritarian President Aliaksandr Lukashenko, who had been in charge of the country since 1994, was declared the winner of the elections again, she was forced to leave for Lithuania.
Mr. Cichanouska and several of his supporters were arrested in Grodno on May 29 last year during an action in support of Mr. Cichanouskaya’s candidacy, and the court subsequently ordered their arrest.
According to the Commission of Inquiry, Mr. Cichanouskis was preparing to provoke mass unrest in the post-election period.
“Cichanouskis openly called for violence against the government and law enforcement officials on the YouTube channel” Strana dlia žizni “(” Country for Life “) and the Telegram channel of the same name, in addition to inciting the social discord and social divisions “. – says the report of the institution.
According to investigators, in May S. Cichanouskis obstructed the work of the Central Election Commission by threatening its president Lidzija Jarmošyna.
It was also found that in May 2020, the defendants in Grodno, under the pretext of collecting signatures, organized a massive illegal act, which was accompanied by serious violations of public order, violence against workers in the interior and evident disobedience to the authorities. “said the report.
“Considering that the damage caused by the actions of Cichanouskis and his relatives is estimated at more than 3.5 million. The assets and funds of the defendants were seized in Belarusian rubles (1.13 million euros), “added the Commission of Inquiry.
According to the most serious of the charges, Mr. Cichanouski could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Belarusian human rights activists have recognized Mr. Cichanouski and his accomplices accused of being political prisoners in the same case.
The country has been plagued by unprecedented protests over the presidential elections since August 9, which Lukashenko’s opponents view as rigged, claiming that the real winner is political rookie Cichanouskaya.
The protesters are demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, the release of political prisoners and the holding of new elections.
The Belarusian security forces have cracked down on the protesters, detained them and forced many other opposition leaders to flee the country.
The European Union and the United States have issued sanctions against Lukashenko and some other members of the Minsk regime for electoral fraud and violence against peaceful protesters.
