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Crisis in Belarus

Criminal case against blogger Tikhanovsky over riots sent to top Belarusian court

The trial includes six individuals

Sergei Tikhanovsky REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

Sergei Tikhanovsky

© REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

MINSK, May 5. /TASS/. The Belarusian Prosecutor-General’s Office has sent the Supreme Court a criminal case against blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky and his accomplices charged with plotting mass riots in the run-up to and during the presidential election in the country.

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"According to the case files, Tikhanovsky, Statkevich as well as Sakov, Popov, Losik, Tsyganovich and other individuals from June 2019 had plotted large-scale riots in the country in the run-up to and during the presidential election in the Republic of Belarus in 2020," the Prosecutor-General’s Office said on its website.

To attain their goals, the suspects used modern political technologies in order to sow discord and distrust among citizens and negative sentiment towards the state authorities. "Tikhanovsky and other persons linked to him under various pretexts, which among them include a collection of electorate signatures to nominate a presidential candidate, carried out illegal mass events in Minsk, Brest, Grodno, Mogilev, Soligorsk, Miorah and other cities in the republic.

During these events they spread information aimed at "fueling political and social tensions in the country, and whipping up other social hatred among social groups," the prosecutors said.

According to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, on May 27, 2020, Tikhanovsky, who sought to hinder the work of the Central Election Commission during a video broadcast in Mogilev, along with Sakov and Popov "appealed to threaten the commission’s chair Ermoshina by holding illegal mass events outside her house, violating her immunity and breaking into her home, and other limitation of her legal rights.

During a search of Tikhanovsky’s summer home in the Gomelsky district, investigators seized $900,300 in cash, an air pistol and an air rifle. The pack and serial numbers of banknotes confirmed that the blogger had obtained them in a banking or financial organization simultaneously.

Damage to the state

The Prosecutor-General’s Office said that the illegal acts by Tikhanovsky and his allies caused damage to the state to the tune of more than 3 mln Belarusian rubles (nearly $1.16 mln). The suspects’ property worth over 2 mln Belarusian rubles (some $775,000) is under arrest.

The Belarusian prosecutors concluded that the charges against the suspects and the restriction measure were well-founded and substantiated by evidence. The prosecutors filed a lawsuit against the suspects demanding compensation for the damage caused by their actions. In accordance with Belarusian criminal law, the suspects face up to 15 years behind bars.

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