Prosecutor requests 19 years in prison for Cichanoŭskaja, Łatuška

February 27, BPN. At the in absentia trial in Minsk on February 27, a prosecutor requested that Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja and her deputy chairman in the opposition’s cabinet, Pavieł Łatuška, be sentenced to 19 years in prison each, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

The prosecutor also demanded that Cichanoŭskaja be fined 37,000 rubels (some $15,000 at the current exchange rate), and that Łatuška be banned from holding public office for five years.

In the prosecutor’s opinion, Coordination Council presidium members Volha Kavalkova and Siarhiej Dyleŭski, as well as Cichanoŭskaja’s former campaign manager Maryja Maroz, should be sentenced to 12 years

The Minsk City Court has been hearing the “Coordination Council case” since January 17. Defendants are charged with a total of 12 criminal offences, such as high treason, conspiracy to seize power and formation of an extremist group.