The Investigative Committee of Belarus has launched a "special investigation" of 20 individuals now living outside the country -- including RFE/RL journalist and analyst Yury Drakakhrust -- for providing comments to indepdendent media in Belarus.
The Investigative Committee said on January 25 the 20 were accused of conspiring to seize power and promoting extremism, among other charges.
Most of the those accused in the case are independent political analysts, sociologists, and economists. The list also includes several employees of the office of Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarus's opposition leader in exile.
All "took an active part in the development and implementation of the concept of destructive activities aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus, and also contributed to the incitement of social enmity and strife in society," the committee said.
The Crisis In Belarus
Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
"There is no particular logic to this list, they just put as many people on this list as possible to intimidate as many people as possible," Hanna Krasulina, Tsikhanouskaya's press secretary and one of those on the list, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service.
Since a disputed 2020 presidential election, authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka has cracked down hard on dissent and civil society, jailing hundreds and forcing most of the country's opposition figures, including Tsikhanouskaya, to flee in fear of their safety and freedom.
While the official results handed Lukashenka victory and his sixth consecutive term in office, the opposition and many Western governments and organizations say the poll was rigged and that Tsikhanouskaya actually won.
Earlier this week, the Vyasna human rights center said that Belarusian authorities had detained more than 70 people recently, highlighting the continued crackdown on dissent.
According to Vyasna, some of those detained were released after they were questioned and their homes searched, while some remained in custody as raids and detentions continued into the evening. In some cases, entire families were detained.
Many of the people detained are either former political prisoners or relatives of individuals who are behind bars on politically motivated charges.
Last week, police in the western region of Brest detained six men on unspecified charges after searching their homes, breaking car windows, and destroying items inside their houses.
The January 25 list of people being investigated includes Ryhor Astapenia, Philip Bikanov, Alyaksandr Dobravolsky, Andrey Kazakevich, Anna Krasulina, Yevhen Kryzhanovsky, Dzianis Kuchynski, Veronika Laputska, Alyaksandr Lagvinets, Anna Lyubakova, Vasil Naumau, Maria Rohova, Pyotr Rudkovsky, Alesia Rudnik, Natalia Rabova, Paval Usau, Tatsyana Chulitskaya, Alyaksandr Shlyk, and Kateryna Shmatina.
According to Vyasna, as of January 23, the number of political prisoners in the country is 1,415.