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Opposition figureheads listed as associated with terrorism by Belarus’ KGB

The defendants in the case have been put on the international wanted list
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
© EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE

MINSK, April 2. /TASS/. The Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) has listed former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and member of the presidium of the Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council Pavel Latushko as individuals associated with terrorism, the KGB said in a statement on Friday.

"The KGB Investigative Department continues the probe into the case against the participants of the BYPOL initiative in connection with the acts of terrorism organized by Vyacheslav Maleichuk in the cities of Minsk and Borisov on March 25. It has been established that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Pavel Latushko and another 15 Belarusian citizens residing abroad are involved in the activities of the above-mentioned unregistered organization. All defendants in the case have been included in the list of individuals and entities associated with terrorist activities," the statement reads.

The defendants in the case have been put on the international wanted list. "Documents have been prepared to request the extradition of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Pavel Latushko from Lithuania and Poland respectively," the KGB said.

According to information on the KGB website, the list of individuals associated with terrorism also includes Belarusian blogger Anton Motolko and former law enforcement officers Igor Makar, Andrei Ostapovich and Stanislav Luponosov.

The Belarusian Prosecutor General’s Officer earlier opened a criminal case against Tikhanovskaya and BYPOL members over the organization of an act of terrorism, based on information provided by the KGB and the Interior Ministry.

On March 26, the Belarusian Interior Ministry said that law enforcement agencies had prevented a resident of the country’s Pinsky District (Brest Region) from carrying out two terrorist attacks, one in the country’s capital of Minsk and the other one at a military base in the Minsk Region.