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“About half an hour ago, Lilija Vlasava, a member of the Presidium of the Coordinating Council, was arrested. Her house has been searched, ”another member of the presidium, Pavel Latuška, told the Interfax news agency.
He added that L. Vlasava had been arrested on the eve of the extended meeting of the Coordinating Council.
“The arrest was carried out by the Department of Financial Investigation of the KGK (State Audit Office),” wrote P. Latška through his Telegram channel.
The Council confirmed this information. “They called early in the morning at 3 pm to come to the RUVD (District Internal Affairs Board) of Central Minsk for participating in an unauthorized rally,” they said.
KGK itself declined to comment on the reasons for Mr. Vlasava’s arrest.
Attorney L. Vlasava is the founder of an international mediation services company.
Belarus has been plagued by protests for more than three weeks since the August 9 presidential election, announced by authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and Western countries consider these elections to be rigged.
Supporters of Lukashenko’s main rival, Sviatlan Cichanouskaya, established a Coordination Council earlier this month with the aim of handing over power in new elections.
Sviatlana Aleksijevič, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, L. Vlasava, Siarhejus Dyleuskis, chairman of the strike committee of the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ), Maksimas Znakas, lawyer, Volha Kavalkova, Trustee of S. Chichanouskaja, General Director of the Janka Kupala P.Latuška National Academic Theater.
Two other members of the Presidium of the Coordinating Council, V. Kavalkova and S. Dyleuskis, were arrested in Minsk last week. On Tuesday, they were sentenced to 10 days in prison for “organizing an unauthorized event.”
“The government is not interested in dialogue”
A statement later issued by the Coordinating Council said that Vlasava’s arrest was seen as political pressure, adding that the government had shown it was not ready to enter into a dialogue with the opposition and civil society.
“Today at 3 pm Lilija Vlasava, member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council and founder of one of the first Belarusian law firms, was arrested in. It should be noted that Lilija Vlasava is one of the best known mediators both in Belarus and in abroad, ”the council said in a statement.
The Council added that the view that the arrests of its Presidium members and the criminal investigation launched by the authorities into the establishment of the Constitutional Council were politically motivated pressures.
“The government’s actions are aimed at disorganizing the work of the Coordinating Council and showing that the government is not interested in public dialogue and solving the internal political crisis through negotiation,” the council emphasized.
“We believe that any pressure on the members of the Coordinating Council should cease.” All countries should promote the solution of the social and political crisis only through dialogue, “added the opposition.
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