Ten members of the Rabochy rukh (Workers' Movement) group in Belarus have gone on trial for high treason and other charges as a crackdown against dissent continues in the country led by the authoritarian Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The trial opened in a court in the southeastern city of Homel against Syarhey Shelest, Uladzimer Zhuravka, Andrey Paheryla, Hanna Ablab, Alyaksandr Hashnikau, Syarhey Dzyuba, Ihar Mints, Valyantsin Tseranevich, Syarhey Shametska, and Alyaksandr Kapshul on November 9.
All of the defendants are charged with high treason, creating an extremist group, and taking part in its activities. Shelest, Zhuravka, and Paheryla are also charged with slander, while Kapshul is additionally charged with the illegal use of a firearm.
Investigators claim the activists collected sensitive information and passed it to representatives and organizations of foreign countries, including the United States and Lithuania.
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.
Some of the defendants are accused of planning to block the operations of two factories. It is not clear what evidence, if any, investigators have to back up their claim.
The Rabochy rukh movement was created in 2020 amid nationwide protests against the official results of the presidential election that handed victory to Lukashenka, who has run the country with an iron fist since 1994. The opposition says the voting was rigged.
The movement tried to organize strikes at two major plants in the Homel region -- Hrodna Azot, a state-run producer of nitrogen compounds and fertilizers, and the Belarusian Steel Works (BMZ).
The defendants were arrested in September 2021. They may face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Lukashenka, 68, has tightened his grip on the country since the August 2020 election by arresting -- sometimes violently -- tens of thousands of people. Fearing for their safety, most opposition members have fled the country.
The West has refused to recognize the results of the election and does not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader. Many countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against his regime in response to the suppression of dissent in the country.