Another high-profile trial began in Belarus – in the so-called “case of the attack on Alexander Lukashenko”. And although it was previously announced that the trial would be closed, on July 29, it suddenly became known that the trial against the head of the Belarusian Popular Front Grigory Kostusev, literary critic Alexander Feduta and lawyer Yury Zenkovich would be held in open mode. . DW shares what is known about the resounding case and its defendants.

The conspiracy to “murder” Lukashenka turned out to be a provocation of the special services

For the first time about “a conspiracy to seize state power unconstitutionally”, as the Belarusian authorities call this case, became known in April last year. The Belarusian KGB then announced the arrest of the leader of the oldest opposition party, the Belarusian Popular Front, Grigory Kostusev, and of the political scientist and literary critic Alexander Feduta. Lawyer Yury Zenkovich, a member of the Belarusian Popular Front, who holds both Belarusian and American citizenship, lives in the United States, is also known to be in the KGB’s pre-trial detention center. In addition, Feduta and Zenkovich, as it turned out, were detained in Moscow – the FSB of Russia was involved in the operation.

A few days later, Alexander Lukashenko said that the detained oppositionists, with the support of US intelligence services, were preparing an assassination attempt against him and his children. According to him, they would capture “one, two (child. – Ed.)how it will look” and place them “in the cellar” in the region of Gomel.

After that, Belarus state channels showed a story in which Zoom video conference recordings were used as the main evidence, where the “conspirators” allegedly planned Lukashenka’s murder. As other Zoom meeting participants, former silovik Pavel Kulazhenko and scientist Alexander Perechenko, later said, these were fragments of an open discussion club whose records were sent to a wide range of people, and their agenda was not related to the murders.

In addition, state channels showed a hidden recording of a restaurant in Moscow, where Feduta and Zenkovich argued with some people “eliminating the main”, “blocking riot police” and “occupying buildings in the city center”. Later, it turned out that Feduta and Zenkovich were approached by people who posed as generals, supposedly ready to participate in the elimination of Lukashenka – this gave experts reason to say that the situation was created by the special services. In another story, state channels showed how Kostusev, Feduta and Zenkovich say they “admit their guilt”.

Kostusev and Feduta face up to 12 years in prison

In late April 2021, the KGB announced that 9 people had been charged with conspiring against Lukashenka. Among the defendants were the aforementioned Alexander Feduta, Yuri Zenkovich and Grigory Kostusev, as well as the accountant Olga Golubovich, the psychiatrist Dmitry Shchigelsky, the scientist Alexander Perepechko, the former silovik Pavel Kulazhenko, Vitaly Makarenko and the former employee of the Ministry of Internal Administration of Almaz Igor Makar.

The trial is on five defendants in the case. Kostusev, Zenkovich and Feduta are charged with conspiracy to seize power (part 1 of article 357 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Belarus) – under this article they face 8-12 years in prison. In addition, Zenkovich is also accused of creating an extremist formation (part 1 of article 361-1 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Belarus), asking for the seizure of power (part 3 of article 361 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Belarus) and inciting hatred and discord (part 3 of article 130 of the RB Penal Code).

In addition, the court will consider the cases of accountant Olga Golubovich (she worked in Zenkovich’s company) and truck driver Denis Kravchuk, accused of gross violation of the order (part 1 of article 342 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Belarus) . It should be noted that Kravchuk did not appear in early KGB press releases.

Initially, it was reported that the trial would be held behind closed doors, but on July 29, on the first day of the proceedings, it was decided to open the case – Kostusev’s daughter Katerina announced this and invited the public to attend the meetings. The case will be considered by the Minsk Regional Court in the Minsk District Court building.

Kostusev has cancer, but transfer to house arrest was repeatedly denied

During the arrest, disturbing news came from the detainees. Grigory Kostusev was forced to sleep on the floor for the first few weeks after his arrest, which caused him to catch a cold, and in the summer he had a heart attack due to the heat in his cell. He was then transferred to the prison hospital, where an examination was carried out, which diagnosed the presence of an oncological disease.

Grigory Kostusev

In October 2021, Grigory Kostusev’s daughter Katerina told DW that the 64-year-old opposition leader was constantly complaining about his deteriorating health. “The father in the pre-trial detention center feels very bad, he’s in pain, he doesn’t sleep well, painkillers don’t help much. coronavirus,” Katerina said. However, petitions to change the restraining measure to house arrest remained unsatisfied.

Feduta in jail didn’t take pills, protesting mail restriction

During his stay in prison, the health of literary critic Alexander Feduta also deteriorated – in the pre-trial detention center at Volodarsky in Minsk he was diagnosed with acute heart failure, he also experienced an attack of angina pectoris and arrhythmia.

Alexandre Feduta

At the end of December 2021, Feduta announced a medical strike – he refused to take pills for the cardiovascular system. So the prisoner protested the restrictions on correspondence with relatives and the seizure of his manuscripts. After a while, the situation was resolved and Feduta went back to taking the medicine he needed.

After that, Feduta, in his letters to Narodnaya Volya, reported that “watching Belarusian TV is the only torture used against him”, and also said that he felt a little better. In her recent letter, Feduta also wrote about the upcoming trial: “I’m waiting for the process to start. Maybe it will be a little more fun.”