March 21, Pozirk. The Belarusian Investigative Committee (IC) has threatened criminal charges for exiled Belarusians who plan to participate in the Freedom Day rallies abroad on March 25, which marks the 107th anniversary of the Belarusian independence proclamation.
Investigators said they would collect and analyze information to persecute participants in absentia and seize their Belarus-based properties.
On January 26, the Belarusian diaspora held rallies to protest what Minsk presented as a presidential election held under the full control of officials and security. The IC claimed to know the identities of 365 participants in these rallies abroad.
Łukašenka, who was declared winner with 86.82 percent of the vote and extended his 30-year rule in Belarus, scheduled his swearing-in ceremony for March 25 this year. He might have picked the date intentionally as the day is one of the major commemorative dates for the opposition.
The current Belarusian government does not recognize March 25, also known as Freedom Day, as an official holiday. After 2020 presidential election, any attempts to publicly celebrate anniversaries led to arrests, trials and jail terms.
Last May, authorities filed extremism-related criminal charges against 104 people over their role in Freedom Day celebrations abroad.
The state-run propaganda has been vocal in demonizing historical events related to the proclamation of 1918 independence, banning all symbols linked to the first Belarusian state.
Earlier, Cichanoŭskaja called for solidarity with Belarus on March 25 and announced numerous rallies by Belarusian communities abroad.
“This is a celebration of our independence and our resistance to dictatorship. We will say loudly that Łukašenka is not a president but a criminal who seized power. We will remind the world about our political prisoners and our struggle. Belarus will be free,” she stressed.
