MINSK. May 21 (Interfax) - Belarusian authorities have opened criminal cases against 257 opposition activists participating in an election of the oppositional Coordination Committee after fleeing the country, the Belarusian Investigative Committee said on Tuesday.
"The Main Investigative Department of the Central Division of the Investigative Committee has opened criminal cases against 257 representatives of extremist organizations," the committee said in a statement.
According to Belarusian investigators, opposition members previously formed the Coordination Committee in the Republic of Belarus in 2020, led by former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, an organization later designated as extremist.
"The main focus of this criminal group's activities was inspiring protest actions and mass riots, discrediting the constitutional basis of the state, maintaining radical and protest potential, forcing public authorities to take part in negotiations using blackmail, diktat and ultimatums, and seizing power per se using unconstitutional methods, including via the use of force," the Investigative Committee said.
After relocating abroad, opposition members "created a parody of a state system, where the so-called Coordination Council plays the role of a proto-parliament," it said.
"In total, 257 people representing 12 extremist organizations are participating in the struggle for positions in the criminal hierarchy," it said.
All of the above have become suspects in criminal cases, facing charges such as conspiracy to seize state power, calls for restrictive measures, the formation of an extremist group, and facilitation of extremist activities, it said.
Currently, investigative procedures, including inspections, searches, and seizures of property are underway along with other procedural measures being taken, the Investigative Committee said.
For more than six months following the presidential election of August 9, 2020, Belarus saw mass protests against the election results, according to which incumbent leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner. Lukashenko has been in office since 1994.
According to the results announced by the Central Elections Commission, Lukashenko garnered 80.1% of the vote, with Tikhanovskaya coming in second with 10.12%.
The opposition found the election results to be false. Protesters demanded that Lukashenko resign, political prisoners be released, and that a new election be held.
Tikhanovskaya's supporters set up the Coordination Committee after the election to call for a broad dialogue within society about various issues, including a mechanism under which a repeat election could be held. The Belarusian authorities designated it as illegal.
The Belarusian State Security Committee placed Tikhanovskaya on a list of organizations and individuals involved in terrorist activities.