(Photo: attorneys for the defendants during the hearing of the case in absentia)
The trial against members of the Coordination Council Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Moroz, Pavel Latushko, Volha Kovalkova and Siarhei Dylewski started at 10 a.m. on 17 January in Minsk City Court. This is stated in the schedule of court sessions on the website of the Supreme Court.
All the defendants in the criminal case are abroad. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya commented on the procedure for appointing an attorney during her participation in the World Economic Forum:
“My team and I managed to find out only a little about the trial. I learned about it from the media, not from the official notice. I was denied the right to attend the hearing and to receive copies of the charges and minutes. And the name of my court-appointed 'defense lawyer' was only informed to me last Friday. Given the weekend, I was simply left with no opportunity to discuss a defense strategy with my attorney. Such is "justice".
But that's not all. The appointed attorney has never contacted me, despite my attempts to contact him. How is he going to defend me? I'm sure it wasn't part of his plan.
What I want to say to everyone involved in this process, from the people who ordered the case to the judges, prosecutors, investigators and that defense counsel: I know that by your actions you are trying to intimidate and discredit me. But you only give direct evidence of your crimes against the people of Belarus.
This future will come, and its inevitability frightens you. Belarus will be a free, independent, peaceful and successful country. And the way you, the accomplices of these trials, are afraid of this future, will not make me, or the Belarusians, stop on the way to their dream.”
Earlier, Pavel Latushko has also waived the counsel assigned to him under the special proceedings:
“I would like to express my public distrust in my new ‘defender’. I have never seen or heard of this person, I learned of his existence from the media. He has never contacted me or made a statement about himself, although the court knows my contacts.
Since investigator Gara communicates with me through the media, I would like to publicly declare that I consider this attorney incompetent to defend me and ask to remove him on the basis of Article 47 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus.
However, there is no point in asking for a new ‘defender’: I suppose there are no suicides, and I wouldn't want to frame my colleagues-lawyers myself", Latushko wrote.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is charged with 10 articles of the Criminal Code:
- Article 13, Part 1 and Article 292, Part 1 (preparation for seizure and retention of buildings and structures);
- Art. 13, Part 1 and Art. 293, Part 2 (preparation to take part in a mass riot);
- Article 357, Part 1 (conspiracy to seize State power in an unconstitutional manner);
- Article 361-1, Parts 1 and 2 (establishment and leadership of extremist formations, committed repeatedly);
- Article 361-1, Part 3 (public calls for seizure of state power or other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus);
- Article 130, Part 3 (incitement of social discord and enmity on the basis of a different social group, committed by a group of persons);
- Article 356, Part 1 (assistance to a foreign State, an international or foreign organization or their representatives in the performance of activities aimed at harming national security (treason);
- Article 16, Part 4 and Article 382 (organization and management of unauthorized conferral of rank and power to an official, involving participation on this basis in negotiations and other meetings with representatives of foreign states, foreign and international organizations and in meetings of international organizations);
- Article 191, Part 2 (obstructing the work of the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus by threatening or otherwise, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy)
- Article 16, Part 4 and Article 342, part 2 (other preparation of persons to participate in group actions that grossly violate public order).
Pavel Latushko is charged under 8 articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus:
- Article 357, Part 1 (conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional manner);
- Article 361, Part 3 (public calls for seizure of state power, and committing other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus);
- Article 361-1, Parts 1 and 2 (establishment and leadership of extremist groups, committed repeatedly);
- Article 130, Part 3 (intentional acts aimed at inciting enmity or hostility on the basis of a different social group, committed by a group of persons);
- Article 16, Part 4 and Article 382 (organization and leadership of the unauthorized appropriation of an official's title and authority, combined with participation on this basis in negotiations and other meetings with representatives of foreign states, foreign and international organizations, and in meetings of international organizations);
- Article 191, Part 2 (obstructing the work of the Central Commission of Belarus by threatening or otherwise, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy);
- Article 426, Part 3 (exceeding authority or official powers);
- Article 430, Part 3 (taking a bribe on a large scale by a person holding a responsible position).
The trial against members of the Coordination Council Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Moroz, Pavel Latushko, Volha Kovalkova and Siarhei Dylewski started at 10 a.m. on 17 January in Minsk City Court. This is stated in the schedule of court sessions on the website of the Supreme Court.
All the defendants in the criminal case are abroad. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya commented on the procedure for appointing an attorney during her participation in the World Economic Forum:
“My team and I managed to find out only a little about the trial. I learned about it from the media, not from the official notice. I was denied the right to attend the hearing and to receive copies of the charges and minutes. And the name of my court-appointed 'defense lawyer' was only informed to me last Friday. Given the weekend, I was simply left with no opportunity to discuss a defense strategy with my attorney. Such is "justice".
But that's not all. The appointed attorney has never contacted me, despite my attempts to contact him. How is he going to defend me? I'm sure it wasn't part of his plan.
What I want to say to everyone involved in this process, from the people who ordered the case to the judges, prosecutors, investigators and that defense counsel: I know that by your actions you are trying to intimidate and discredit me. But you only give direct evidence of your crimes against the people of Belarus.
This future will come, and its inevitability frightens you. Belarus will be a free, independent, peaceful and successful country. And the way you, the accomplices of these trials, are afraid of this future, will not make me, or the Belarusians, stop on the way to their dream.”
Earlier, Pavel Latushko has also waived the counsel assigned to him under the special proceedings:
“I would like to express my public distrust in my new ‘defender’. I have never seen or heard of this person, I learned of his existence from the media. He has never contacted me or made a statement about himself, although the court knows my contacts.
Since investigator Gara communicates with me through the media, I would like to publicly declare that I consider this attorney incompetent to defend me and ask to remove him on the basis of Article 47 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus.
However, there is no point in asking for a new ‘defender’: I suppose there are no suicides, and I wouldn't want to frame my colleagues-lawyers myself", Latushko wrote.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is charged with 10 articles of the Criminal Code:
- Article 13, Part 1 and Article 292, Part 1 (preparation for seizure and retention of buildings and structures);
- Art. 13, Part 1 and Art. 293, Part 2 (preparation to take part in a mass riot);
- Article 357, Part 1 (conspiracy to seize State power in an unconstitutional manner);
- Article 361-1, Parts 1 and 2 (establishment and leadership of extremist formations, committed repeatedly);
- Article 361-1, Part 3 (public calls for seizure of state power or other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus);
- Article 130, Part 3 (incitement of social discord and enmity on the basis of a different social group, committed by a group of persons);
- Article 356, Part 1 (assistance to a foreign State, an international or foreign organization or their representatives in the performance of activities aimed at harming national security (treason);
- Article 16, Part 4 and Article 382 (organization and management of unauthorized conferral of rank and power to an official, involving participation on this basis in negotiations and other meetings with representatives of foreign states, foreign and international organizations and in meetings of international organizations);
- Article 191, Part 2 (obstructing the work of the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus by threatening or otherwise, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy)
- Article 16, Part 4 and Article 342, part 2 (other preparation of persons to participate in group actions that grossly violate public order).
Pavel Latushko is charged under 8 articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus:
- Article 357, Part 1 (conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional manner);
- Article 361, Part 3 (public calls for seizure of state power, and committing other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus);
- Article 361-1, Parts 1 and 2 (establishment and leadership of extremist groups, committed repeatedly);
- Article 130, Part 3 (intentional acts aimed at inciting enmity or hostility on the basis of a different social group, committed by a group of persons);
- Article 16, Part 4 and Article 382 (organization and leadership of the unauthorized appropriation of an official's title and authority, combined with participation on this basis in negotiations and other meetings with representatives of foreign states, foreign and international organizations, and in meetings of international organizations);
- Article 191, Part 2 (obstructing the work of the Central Commission of Belarus by threatening or otherwise, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy);
- Article 426, Part 3 (exceeding authority or official powers);
- Article 430, Part 3 (taking a bribe on a large scale by a person holding a responsible position).
