Opposition leader accuses Łukašenka of high treason

April 25, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka “traded Belarusian independence for his personal interests,” Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has told German MPs.

In 2020 he “subdued Belarus to Russian political and military policy” and should be tried for all his crimes, she said in her speech for the Bundestag committees on foreign and EU affairs.

The politician also stressed the need to prevent the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus and to differentiate between ordinary Belarusians and the authorities that support Russia’s war on Ukraine. “It is also important to separate Belarus and Russia: don’t put us in the same basket,” she noted.

Germany and Belarusian opposition could formalize their relationship to ensure regular communication and the development of strategies for a democratic change in Belarus, Cichanoŭskaja said.

The opposition leader urged German MPs to adopt a resolution in support of independent and democratic Belarus.

Representatives of five of the six parliamentary factions at the Bundestag attended the meeting with Cichanoŭskaja, her aide Franak Viačorka told BPN.

In February 2022, when Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine, Cichanoŭskaja described  Łukašenka’s support of the Kremlin as a betrayal.

In early March 2023, the Minsk City Court sentenced the opposition leader to 15 years in prison without her being present at the trial. Authorities charged her with several criminal offenses, including high treason.