Belarusian prosecutors send Coordination Council case to court

December 16, BPN. The Prosecutor General’s Office has referred a special procedure case against the opposition’s Coordination Council to court.

The case involves opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja, Coordination Council presidium members Volha Kavalkova and Siarhiej Dyleŭski, who heads the Minsk Tractor Works’ strike committee, Cichanoŭskaja’s former campaign manager Maryja Maroz and a member of the opposition’s transition cabinet, National Anti-Crisis Management head Pavieł Łatuška.

The prosecutor’s office said they “at various times joined a criminal conspiracy, including with other individuals, to seize state power.” Their charges range from conspiracy and creation of extremist groups to incitement to hatred and obstruction of the central election commission’s work.

Special procedure means that a judge is likely to try them in absentia in order to strip them of their passports.

The Coordination Council emerged in August 2020 to deal with the political crisis that followed Alaksandr Łukašenka’s disputed re-election.