Watchdog

MINSK -- Prosecutors have asked a court in Minsk to convict and sentence Yuras Zyankovich, a Belarusian-born lawyer who also holds U.S. citizenship, and his five co-defendants to lengthy prison terms for planning to assassinate authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his family and seize power.

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center said on August 30 that the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Zyankovich, political observer and literary expert Alyaksandr Fyaduta, and the leader of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front, Ryhor Kastusyou, to 12 years in prison each.

Zyankovich and Fyaduta were snatched off a street in Moscow and driven more than 700 kilometers to Belarus in April 2021. Lukashenka claimed at the time that Zyankovich had formed a group that was part of a U.S.-backed assassination plot. Washington has denied the accusation.

Zyankovich did not enter a plea, but he reportedly said during the trial that he had agreed to cooperate with investigators. His wife has claimed that the charges against her husband are ludicrous and that if he confessed it was to save his life.

Kastusyou pleaded not guilty to the charges, while Fyaduta pleaded partially guilty. Krauchuk and Halubovich pleaded guilty.

Five others accused of being members of the group are currently residing abroad.

Lukashenka, who was ruled Belarus for nearly three decades, has frequently accused Western countries of trying to topple him after he claimed victory in the August 2020 presidential election.

Since the election, Belarus has been gripped by unprecedented protest and political turmoil, with opposition groups saying it was a rigged vote.

Belarusian security forces have arrested tens of thousands of people in a crackdown that has led to accusations of beatings and other rights abuses against demonstrators. The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions against individuals and companies tied to Lukashenka's regime.

Most prominent opposition leaders have left the country.

The West has refused to accept Lukashenka's victory, and few countries aside from Russia acknowledge him as president of Belarus.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Aighanym Elshibaeva joined the Kazakh Army as a contractor in December 2019 to realize her childhood dream of serving in the military.

But her military career ended prematurely in May 2022 under disputed circumstances. According to the Defense Ministry, the 25-year-old soldier was dismissed after failing a combat training test.

But Elshibaeva insists she was forced out of the army after she rejected the sexual advances of her commander and reported the incident to authorities.

Elshibaeva accuses Major Ertai Qoshanov of sexual harassment that she claims began soon after she joined his battalion at a military base in Almaty Province town of Shengeldi.

"He would always call me and text me, saying 'Let's meet' or 'I want to spend a night with you,'" Elshibaeva told RFE/RL. "And he would call me to his office."

SEE ALSO:

Activists In Four Kazakh Cities Protest Government's Move To Raise Retirement Age For Women

The former soldier said she always rejected the commander's unwanted overtures for sexual favors but, despite her protests, the commander continued to pursue her.

"Once he touched me inappropriately in front of other soldiers. I hit him and then I began talking openly about it. I told him it's not acceptable," she says. "He took the rejection very badly and subjected me to insults and humiliation."

She says such harassment would take place in front of the entire battalion.

But Elshibaeva says the subordinates of the commander pretended they didn't see anything, while those in the higher ranks just looked the other way.

Other contractors -- including about 30 other female soldiers and contractors at the same battalion -- didn't want to risk their careers and wages to take her side, Elshibaeva said.

SEE ALSO:

Kazakhs Confront Russian Tourists Over 'Z' Stickers On Cars

"They told me, 'We need to feed our families, our children,'" she added. "Some of them said, 'This is the army, what do you expect? Nobody forced you to join the army.'"

According to the women's rights group NeMolchiKz, a former lawyer at the army base confirmed that Elshibaeva had formally complained about the harassment to the authorities but that no serious steps were taken to address the situation.

Major Qoshanov was eventually transferred to another job. But the new commander, whom Elshibaeva described as a "friend of Qoshanov," made her situation even more difficult and "virtually unbearable."

The former soldier recalls being forced to undergo an intrusive medical checkup with a doctor touching her private parts "in front of men inside a corridor." Elshibaeva believes the humiliating incident was deliberately ordered by her new commander to punish her for speaking out.

Elshibaeva claims she developed medical conditions, including an autoimmune disease, that were induced by anxiety.

SEE ALSO:

Two Uzbek Para-Powerlifters On Trial In South Korea On Sexual-Abuse Charges

RFE/RL called the military base where Elshibaeva served, but no one responded.

The Defense Ministry press office didn't reply to RFE/RL's request for the commanders' phone numbers.

Elshibaeva was dismissed from the army on May 3, nearly eight months before her three-year contract would have ended.

She submitted official complaints to military prosecutors and police. But in a statement on August 12, the Defense Ministry said a probe concluded that the former soldier's accusations "did not correspond to reality."

"After a thorough investigation, the [special commission set up by the ministry] found no evidence to support the claims brought forward by Elshibaeva," the statement said.

Elshibaeva is now working as a taxi driver to support her mother and younger siblings. After the death of her father, Elshibaeva is the only breadwinner in the family.

Elshibaeva has no plans to try to return to the armed forces. But by telling her story to the media she wants to "let the people know what's going on" at the military base where she used to serve.

Written by RFE/RL correspondent Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by the Kazakh Service