The Investigative Committee of Belarus has submitted a criminal case against the proxies of ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, accused of planning the seizure of government buildings on the territory of Gomel, for sending to court, the ministry’s press service said on Tuesday.
“The main investigation department of the Investigative Committee has completed the investigation of the criminal case against four proxies of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. The materials have been handed over to the prosecutor to be sent to court,” the statement on the department’s website says.
According to the investigation, “law enforcement officers received information that persons from Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s inner circle are preparing for riots and the seizure of government buildings on the territory of Gomel.” “To implement the plan, the latter sought out those who wish among former military personnel, employees of the internal affairs bodies and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In order to study and plan their actions in detail, the accused organized a meeting on August 5, which was attended, among other things, by Tikhanovskaya herself,” the message says. …
According to him, the defendants, with her participation, discussed a plan for organizing mass riots in Gomel, as well as seizing the buildings of administrations and executive committees, appointing their own persons instead of heads and chairmen. “Having supported the plan, she agreed to give money for the purchase of stun guns, gas canisters, walkie-talkies, megaphones, microphones, and other items and weapons intended to commit a crime,” the message says. It is noted that the criminal activities of the accused were suppressed by the police, who detained the main defendants in the period from 6 to 8 August last year.
As a result of the investigation, they were charged under the articles “preparation for mass riots” and “preparation for the seizure of buildings and structures.” A preventive measure in the form of detention was applied to all of them.
The former presidential candidate called the video edited and said that she had always advocated only a peaceful protest.
“It can be seen that the video has been cut. At the very moment when I say that I am only for peaceful protests, if there are any, and that I will not deal with any violence, I got up and left the office,” Ms Tikhanovskaya commented on the video to the Belsat TV channel.
After the presidential elections held in Belarus on August 9, 2020, in which Alexander Lukashenko won for the sixth time, who, according to the CEC, gained 80.1% of the vote, mass opposition protests began in the country, in Minsk and in the regions they were associated with riots … During their dispersal, the security forces used special means and special equipment. The shares gradually changed their character to local and small. On February 11, the KGB of Belarus announced that the situation in the country had stabilized, the peak of the protests had passed, their manifestations had practically disappeared.
The opposition believes that Tikhanovskaya won the election, demands new elections and initiates the expansion of international sanctions against Minsk, previously adopted by Western countries. In Belarus, criminal cases have been initiated against a number of members of the opposition coordinating council created on the initiative of Tikhanovskaya, including calls for the seizure of power, the creation of an extremist formation, and a conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional way. Tikhanovskaya, who left for Lithuania after the elections, is also a defendant in the case of the creation of an extremist group and an attempt to seize power; she is put on the interstate wanted list in Belarus and Russia.
Discussion about this post