Belarus Refused to Open a Criminal Case against Lukashenka

The Belarusian Investigative Committee has refused to open a criminal case against Alexander Lukashenka for the potential seizure of state power in the country. That was announced on Facebook by Belarusian politician Yuri Hubarevich, showing the official response of the department.

“You can understand the reason. After all, under this article, a good half of the IC’s employees will have to be involved as accomplices, ” he wrote.

Hubarevich added that the evidence base for this case is updated daily and a new government will decide to look into the matter.

To recap, mass protests broke out in Belarus against the rigging of the presidential election on 9 August 2020. According to the exit poll results, Alexander Lukashenka won.  The police attacked protesters with tear gas, light-noise grenades and water cannons. Police special forces detained thousands of people. Many of them were severely beaten up during their detention and in jail. On 17 September, the European Parliament did not recognise Lukashenka’s election victory and accepted the Coordinating Council of the Belarusian opposition as a temporary representative body of Belarusians.

Lukashenka’s secret inauguration took place on 23 September in Minsk. Under Belarusian law, the state television was to broadcast the event, but this did not take place. Only a few hundred people were guests at the ceremony. Among them were senior officials; the House of Representative’s deputies; the Republic Council’s members; the heads of state bodies and organisations;, local executive and administrative bodies; republican mass media; and personalities of science, culture and sports.

Natalia Tolub