August 5, Pozirk. The Investigative Committee in Minsk has warned Belarusians against taking part in opposition-organized events abroad, days before a high-profile conference and a march in Warsaw marking the fifth anniversary of the 2020 disputed presidential election.
The Committee said it has identified “207 more” participants in Freedom Day rallies held in March in Canada, Lithuania, Poland, the United States and the UK and treats them as suspects in an extremism-related case.
It described the opposition’s events abroad as an attempt to discredit Belarus, incite social hatred, imitate support for radical movements and attract funding for opposition initiatives.
In a separate development, Minsk has handed a note of protest to Polish charge d’affaires in connection with the events that the Belarusian opposition plans to stage in Warsaw on August 9 and 10.
The purpose of the events is to “cause harm to the Republic of Belarus,” the foreign ministry said. “Such hostile actions do not contribute to the restoration of normal dialogue between . . . the states and directly harm Belarusian-Polish relations,” it added.
Opposition politician Franak Viačorka told Pozirk that the events will go ahead as planned despite the threats.
The regime “wants complete silence; it wants everyone to forget about political prisoners, repression and the regime’s crimes but we will speak out. We will speak out about what irritates the regime at the conference and the march in Warsaw and at rallies all over the world,” he said.
