On August 25, the Belarusian Supreme Court dismissed opposition presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s appeal against the Central Election Commission’s decision approving the results of the 2020 presidential election.
According to the CEC, the first and still the only president Alyaksandr Lukashenka won a landslide victory over his competitors. Tsikhanouskaya demanded that the results of the elections announced by CEC Chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna be declared invalid.
The Supreme Court also refused to initiate proceedings over similar complaints filed by former presidential candidates Hanna Kanapatskaya and Andrey Dzmitryeu.
The presidential election in Belarus was held on August, 9. The election officials state that Lukashenka gained 80.10% of votes, and only 10.12% of voters supported Tsikhanouskaya.
Straight after the announcement of the official exit poll results, mass protests broke out in Minsk and other Belarusian cities, prompting a brutal response from OMON riot police and spetsnaz troops.
After being forced out of Belarus, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya initiated the creation of the Coordination Council as part of taking urgent measures to restore law and order in Belarus as well as to ensure the transfer of power in the country. At the moment, the Council comprises 600 members. Last week, Belarus’ Prosecutor General opened a criminal case over establishing the Council, naming it a ‘threat to national security’. Its members may face charges of attempts to seize power in Belarus. Several board members, including former minister Pavel Latushka and Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich, were summoned to the prosecutor’s office for questioning.
On Tuesday, Tsikhanouskaya took part in an extraordinary meeting on the political situation in Belarus held by the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.
