The Supreme Court of Belarus announced Tuesday that it has set January 17 as the date for the start of the trial ‘in absentia’ against opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was the main rival of President Alexander Lukashenko in the presidential elections held in 2020 that revalidated his mandate at the head of the country despite accusations of fraud by the opposition.
«The trial ‘in absentia’ against Tikhanovskaya will begin on the 17th at 10.00 (local time),» the court has indicated on its website, where it has specified that on that day the preliminary hearings will begin and will proceed to judge, in addition, the opponents Olga Kovalkova, Sergei Dilevski, Maria Moroz and Pavel Latushko.
All these opponents are currently outside Belarus, although they have been summoned to testify. On December 16, the Belarusian Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit against all of them in court.
The country suffered a strong wave of protests after the elections. The demonstrations were marked by police violence, as denounced by several NGOs, which claimed that the security forces resorted to tear gas, rubber balls and other similar measures to disperse those present.
The authorities have always assured that these protests were organized and controlled by external forces and accused Western countries and the United States of interfering in the internal affairs of Belarus.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
