Belarus: investigation opened against two leaders of the opposition media Nexta

The Investigative Committee of Belarus has opened an investigation targeting two leaders of the opposition media Nexta, classified as a "

", the Belta agency reported on Friday May 20.

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This investigation targets Stepan Poutilo, co-founder of the channel broadcast on YouTube and Telegram as well as Ian Roudik, another Nexta manager.

The two men are in exile outside the borders of Belarus.

Nexta played a key role in mobilizing the historic protest movement against the August 2020 re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, which led to it being banned and classified as a "

" by the Belarusian Supreme Court.

The Investigative Committee accuses the two men of attempting to "

" Belarus, held with an iron fist by Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994. The other co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Nexta, Roman Protassevitch , was arrested in May 2021 with his beloved partner Sofia Sapega when their Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was intercepted by a Belarusian fighter jet, sparking international outcry.

Roman Protassevitch is currently under house arrest awaiting trial while his partner has been sentenced to six years in prison.

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On Wednesday, Belarus published a decree introducing the death penalty for preparing an attack or “

”, a hardening which targets

the opposition “

The human rights NGO Viasna, of which several executives are in prison, counts more than 1,000 political prisoners in the country.