It’s a fiasco. Svetlana Alexievich is called for questioning.
Babariko’s office reports that Svetlana Alexievich has been called as a witness in
the Coordination Council criminal case.
As a reminder, the Coordination Council has been created to facilitate the transition of presidential power. Its elected members have since been charged with unlawful seizure of power. As Attorney General Alexander Konuk stated in an interview:
“The creation and activity of the Coordination Council aim to seize
power. It is a threat to the national security of the Republic of Belarus. We opened a criminal investigation into it (Criminal Procedure Code, art. 361).”
By the way, a violation of the article 361 is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
As you can imagine, the Investigative Committee took on the case immediately. Lawyer Maxim Znak, former diplomat Pavel Latushko and chairman of the MTZ strike committee Sergei Dylevsky were called for questioning on August 21. The latter was detained on August 24.
All of them, including Alexievich, are elected members of the Coordination
Council. In case you thought that at least Nobel laureates are honored in Belarus, you thought wrong.
At a press conference today, Maria Kolesnikova said that Ms Alexievich was
unwell and therefore unable to attend some of the Coordination Council sessions.
Nevertheless, she is planning to appear before the Investigative Committee.
Meanwhile, no criminal investigations into acts of torture and murders of
peaceful protestors have been opened yet.
