Belarusian Nobel Prize-winning author Svetlana Alexievich refused to answer investigators’ questions after she was called in as a witness into a criminal probe that has been launched into the opposition Coordinating Council.

Alexievich is one of several prominent Belarusians that have joined the newly established Coordinating Council that was set up on August 14 at the instigation of former English teacher and nominal victor in Belarus’ presidential election Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to negotiate a transfer of power with Belarus' self-appointed President Alexander Lukashenko and his exit from the nation’s top job.

Alexievich was named a member of the council's presidium but has not attended its sessions.

"I am completely calm. I do not feel guilty. Everything we are doing is legal and necessary," Alexievich told AFP as she arrived at the Investigative Committee's headquarters in Minsk with other members of the presidium, as cited by the Moscow Times. 

She left shortly afterwards, saying she had refused to answer questions and that the Council's only goal was "to unite society."

Alexievich won the Nobel Literature Prize in 2015 and has been an outspoken critic of Lukashenko.

Lukashenko has refused to acknowledge the Coordinating Council in any way and ordered a criminal investigation into the body, which he accuses of trying to organise a coup d'état.

As bne IntelliNews reported, two other prominent members of the Coordinating Council – Volha Kavalkova, the co-chairwoman of the Belarusian Christian Democrats and a prominent member of Tikhanovskaya's campaign team, and Siarhei Dyleuski, who leads the striking workers at the Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) – have already been arrested on August 24 for “organising an illegal demonstration.”

Another member of the council, former diplomat and culture minister Pavel Latushko, was also questioned by investigators for several hours on August 25 and signed an agreement barring him from discussing the meeting. Latushko emerged at the first meeting of the Coordinating Council as a powerful speaker and with his experience of working inside the government could emerge as a leader of the opposition.

He was widely hailed for his decision to publicly criticise Lukashenko during the early demonstrations and was sacked from his job as director of the famous Janka Kupala National Theatre, the oldest theatre in Minsk. After his dismissal the entire staff of the theatre also quit.

Opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko formed a Coordination Council to oversee a peaceful transition of power after they rejected his claim to have won a sixth term in an August 9 presidential vote.

Lukashenko dispatched the security services to violently crack down on mass protests against his re-election and opened a criminal probe into the council, accusing its members of attempting to topple his government.

Staff of the Janka Kupala National Theater showing their resignation letters to Belarusian Minister of Culture Yuri Bondar on August 18 after director Pavel Latushko was sacked.