Criminal case against opposition leaders ready for trial

December 1, BPN. The Investigative Committee has forwarded to the Prosecutor General a criminal case against Belarusian opposition leaders and activists to be tried in absentia, its press office reported.

The defendants include Belarusian opposition leaders Sviatłana Cichanoŭskaja and Pavieł Łatuška.

On November 30, Łatuška publicly rejected a lawyer appointed to defend him during his trial in absentia.

The so-called special proceedings target those living abroad and evading contact with investigators. The authorities’ ultimate goal is believed to be to seize property and strip dissidents of their Belarusian citizenship.

The government enacted amendments on July 27 to legalize investigations and trials in absentia.