The political repression by the regime of Lukashenko has reached an unprecedented level, said EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell. That was the reaction of the head of the European diplomacy to the trial, begun in absentia in Belarus against Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Pavel Latushka and other members of the Coordinating Council of the Belarusian opposition.
Borrell recalled that today in Belarus there are more than 1,440 political prisoners. According to him, the regime, applying repressive laws, violates the rights and freedoms of Belarusians, as well as international obligations of Belarus.
The EU condemns this brutal repression and politically motivated courts aimed at silencing any independent voices, said Josep Borrell.
On January 17th one of the leaders of Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who declared herself the president of the country after the disputable elections of the head of the state in August 2020, started her trial in absentia in Minsk. Along with Tsikhanouskaya, opposition activists Pavel Latushka, Maria Moroz, Olga Kovalkova and Sergei Dylevski were summoned to court as defendants. All the defendants are charged with conspiracy to seize power unconstitutionally.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called the trial in absentia a farce and revenge on the part of Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. "This is a personal revenge on Lukashenko and his henchmen, but not only on me, but also on other people who oppose him," said the politician.
