MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2020) Ex-Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said Belarus' law enforcement agencies must release Olga Kovalkova and Sergey Dylevsky, members of the opposition's coordination council's presidium, who are serving short administrative arrest terms.
Earlier, Tikhanovskaya, who is in Lithuania, initiated the creation of a coordination council for the transition of power in Belarus. The Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus, in connection with the council's formation, opened a criminal case on calls to seize power.
The opposition council says all the goals and methods designated by it are legal and based on the republic's constitution. However, on Tuesday, a Minsk court sentenced Kovalkova and Dylevsky, detained the day before, to 10 days of administrative arrest for organizing an unauthorized protest.
"I urge law enforcement agencies to immediately stop pressure on members of the coordination council and release Olga Kovalkova and Sergey Dylevsky. Do not try to intimidate us and do not be afraid to engage in open dialogue with the people," Tikhanovskaya said in a statement released by her headquarters.
On August 9, incumbent leader Alexander Lukashenko won the presidential elections in Belarus for the sixth time - according to the Central Election Commission, he gained 80.1 percent of the vote. The opposition claims that Tikhanovskaya, not Lukashenko, won the election.
Mass opposition protests began across Belarus after the presidential elections. In the first days, the rallies were crushed by law enforcement officers: tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets were used against the protesters who did not agree with the election results.
Then the law enforcement agencies stopped dispersing the rallies and using force. In line with official data, over 6,700 people were detained in the first days. According to the Interior Ministry, hundreds of people were injured during the riots, including more than 120 law enforcement officers. Three protesters have died.
