The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned the crimes being investigated embrace deportation and persecution by deportation.
Printed On 12 Mar 2026
Prosecutors on the Worldwide Felony Court docket (ICC) have opened an investigation into Belarus over the suspected compelled deportation of presidency opponents.
The ICC prosecutor’s workplace mentioned on Thursday that it had discovered “an inexpensive foundation to consider crimes throughout the jurisdiction of the Court docket have been dedicated”.
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The alleged crimes which can be being investigated embrace deportation and persecution by deportation and had been dedicated “at the least partly on the territory of Lithuania”.
“There’s a cheap foundation to consider that these crimes had been dedicated as a part of a widespread and systematic assault towards the civilian inhabitants,” the prosecutor added.
Whereas Belarus just isn’t a member of the ICC, Lithuania is and introduced the case to the courtroom.
Lithuania has turn out to be a refuge for tens of hundreds of Belarusians who left their homeland after Minsk authorities violently suppressed protests towards longtime President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020.
Exiled opposition figures have frequently reported being threatened by Minsk’s KGB safety companies whereas overseas.
Belarusian opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya welcomed the ICC prosecutor’s announcement.
“Lots of of hundreds of Belarusians have suffered, and proceed to endure, due to the regime’s actions. Lukashenka’s insurance policies additionally create threats for Belarus’ neighbours,” she mentioned in an announcement.
“This choice restores hope. That justice will prevail, that these accountable might be held accountable, and that the victims will lastly obtain reality and justice,” she added.
In September 2024, Lithuania urged the ICC to open an investigation because it mentioned a number of the alleged crimes happened in its nation.
Belarus has usually forcibly deported political prisoners launched from jail, largely to Lithuania, akin to Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, in December.
Final September, Minsk additionally tried to deport opposition determine Mikola Statkevich to Lithuania by pressure. Refusing to cross the border, he walked again to Belarus and was despatched again to jail earlier than being launched for medical causes final month.
In accordance with the Viasna rights group, there are 1,139 political prisoners in Belarus.
