The Investigative Committee of Belarus has issued a resolution on the involvement of the creators of the telegram channel NEXTA Stsyapan Putsila and Raman Pratasevich as defendants in the case of mass riots.
“The Minsk office of the IC continues to investigate the criminal case of the riots and other violations of public order that took place in Minsk from August 9 this year up till now. According to the investigation, in relation to the citizens of the Republic of Belarus S. Putsila and R. Pratasevich, decisions were made to bring them to justice as accused of organizing mass riots and group actions that grossly violate public order under Article 293, Article 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus,” the ministry said in a statement.
In addition, a criminal case was initiated against Putsila and Pratasevich under Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of Belarus “in connection with the commission of deliberate actions aimed at inciting social enmity on the basis of professional affiliation, concerning two professional and social groups in the Republic of Belarus — representatives of the authorities and law enforcement officers, from August to September of this year through the telegram channels created and managed by them”.
As reported by the Investigative Committee of Belarus, the results of the psycholinguistic examination carried out by the state experts were attached to the materials of the criminal case and confirm the conclusions of the investigation.
Putsila and Pratasevich have been put on the international wanted list.
