Belarusian Pro-Opposition Ex-Athlete Herasimenia Placed On Wanted List - Investigators

Belarusian Pro-Opposition Ex-Athlete Herasimenia Placed on Wanted List - Investigators

Retired Belarusian swimmer Aliaksandra Herasimenia, an Olympic runner-up who founded the opposition Belarus Sports Solidarity Foundation, has been put on the wanted list, the country's Investigative Committee said on Thursday

MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2021) Retired Belarusian swimmer Aliaksandra Herasimenia, an Olympic runner-up who founded the opposition Belarus sports Solidarity Foundation, has been put on the wanted list, the country's Investigative Committee said on Thursday.

Earlier in April, the authorities launched a criminal case against Herasimenia and Aliaksandr Opeykin, the organization's co-founder, on charges of spreading misinformation, providing financial and legal assistance to athletes accused of violating Belarusian laws, and planning to undermine the country's national security in cooperation with foreign states and international organizations.

"The Investigative Committee issued orders to prosecute Aliaksandra Herasimenia and Aliaksandr Opeykin ... The prosecutor sanctioned the arrest of both defendants. These individuals have been added to the wanted list," the committee wrote on Telegram.

The activities of the defendants were classified by the investigators as "calls to commit actions that would harm the national security of Belarus using media and the internet."

Belarus witnessed massive protests by opposition contesting the official results of the election after Alexander Lukashenko won the presidential elections in August 2020 for the sixth time. The Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation was created in August 2020 with the goal to fund athletes detained or otherwise affected by their political views.

In late February, Lukashenko urged all Belarusian athletes and coaches to be patriotic, claiming those opposition leaders who left the country started "a furious fight abroad" for money.