UCP leader accused of leading “a radical crowd” during 2020 protests

August 24, BPN. Mikałaj Kazłoŭ, chair of the United Civic Party (UCP), arrested on July 27, is charged with organizing and participating in gross violations of public order, state-run media reported, citing Siarhiej Pasko, head of the Investigative Committee in Minsk.

Pasko is quoted as saying that Kazłoŭ “controlled the radical crowd, gave orders to the protesters, and urged them to block the traffic.”

According to the Investigative Committee, over 280 people have been arrested in criminal cases relating to the “mass riots” over the past six months, 238 of whom have already been charged and sentenced to prison terms.

The police reportedly have created a forensic video library with hundreds of thousands of files that allowed them to identify more than 1,400 protesters so far.