Lukashenko regime designates exiled Belarusian opposition body as 'terrorist organization'
Belarusian authorities have designated the United Transitional Cabinet, a government-in-exile led by opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, as a "terrorist organization," the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office said on July 9.
Dictator Alexander Lukashenko's regime often labels organizations that oppose its policies as terrorists or extremists in order to ban their activities.
According to the prosecutor's office decision, the cabinet's subdivisions were also recognized as terrorists, and the organization's activities were subsequently banned in Belarus.
The United Transitional Cabinet, previously branded as "extremist" by Minsk in 2022, is an opposition government-in-exile established on Aug. 9, 2022, to challenge Lukashenko's rule. Led by Tsikhanouskaya, it aims to unite democratic forces and push for a peaceful transition of power in Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaya stepped in as the opposition candidate in 2020 after her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski's arrest, but was forced into exile after Lukashenko declared victory in what was broadly seen as massive election fraud.
Siarhei Tsikhanouski was sentenced to 18 years in prison on politically motivated charges, but he was released on June 21 this year after Lukashenko met U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in Minsk.
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory for military operations against Ukraine.
The Belarusian dictator has maintained a tight grip over his country by electoral fraud, surveillance, and brutal crackdown on free press, civil society, and political opposition, prompting Western countries to impose sanctions on Belarus.
