March 29, Pozirk. The Investigative Committee has announced extremism-related charges against foreign-based Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) acting chairman Vadzim Sarančukoŭ and Aleś Kirkievič, a former leader of its youth wing.
Sarančukoŭ, a politician from Hrodna, led the local BPF branch before being elected the party’s acting chairman in April 2022. BPF leader Ryhor Kastusioŭ is in prison, and the party has been outlawed.
Kirkievič was among 11 people sentenced for protesting in Minsk after the December 2010 presidential election. Authorities released him in September 2011 after Alaksandar Łukašenka’s pardon. He later converted from politics to journalism.
Both are being investigated under a special procedure that allows the government to prosecute its exiled opponents on charges of extremism, riots, genocide and for other alleged crimes.
