July 19 () –
Authorities in Belarus on Tuesday banned the activities of the country’s independent trade unions for supporting protests against the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, following the controversial 2020 election, which the opposition says was overshadowed by electoral fraud.
In a statement, the Belarusian Prosecutor’s Office has indicated that the Supreme Court has decided to put an end to the activities of the Free Trade Union of Belarus, the Free Trade Union of Metal Workers, the Independent Trade Union of Miners, Chemists and Oil Refiners and that of the industry radioelectric, as well as the Trade Union Association.
During the trial, it was established that “instead of protecting the socioeconomic work of union members and preventing illegal strikes, the leaders of these organizations and some of their members promoted destructive activities and massive events that violated public order,” according to picks up the text, which indicates that “information with extremist content was distributed”.
For this reason, explains the Prosecutor’s Office, criminal cases have been opened and these facts are being investigated. The decision of the Supreme Court has been produced after recording evidence on alleged violations of the Constitution and the Law on Trade Unions.
The results of the August 2020 elections sparked a strong wave of protests in the country, where hundreds of people accused Lukashenko – who has been in power since 1994 – of fraud. Several people were killed, dozens were injured and thousands were arrested during the riots.
Since then, the authorities have accused the unions of being partially responsible for calling strikes at state-owned companies during the protests.
Unions have also been accused of accepting help from third countries in carrying out anti-state activities, while the authorities have also banned a number of NGOs on the grounds that they incited the uprising.
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