Member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council (CC) of the Belarusian opposition Maxim Znak was accused of creating an extremist group and conspiring to seize power. This was announced by his lawyer Dmitry Laevsky in his Telegram channel.
According to the defender, a total of three criminal cases have already been initiated against the Sign, before that he was accused of calls for actions that threaten national security. “There are no legal grounds for any of the charges,” Laevsky stressed. He added that the activist was convicted solely for his professional activities, and promised to fight for his fate in the future.
Maxim Znak was detained by the Belarusian security forces on September 9. He went on a hunger strike to protest the charges and held it for over a week. A member of the opposition Constitutional Court Maria Kolesnikova, as well as her lawyer, Ilya Salei, are taking part with him in the case of calls to seize power.
In Belarus, protests have continued for the seventh month after the presidential elections on August 9, 2020. The actions are harshly suppressed by the police and riot police. Tens of thousands of people were detained, and many spoke of torture and beatings in isolation wards. Four people were killed in clashes with security forces, dozens were sentenced to imprisonment.