MINSK: A Belarusian court on Monday sentenced the country’s leading opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile, to fifteen years in prison.
According to Belta news agency and the human rights organization, Viasna, another prominent opponent, Pavel Latushko, was sentenced to 18 years. Three other people were also sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Tikhanovskaya quickly responded and vowed to continue her struggle and political activities. She labeled the trial a “farce.”
“Today, I do not think about my sentence. I am thinking of thousands of innocent people, detained and those sentenced to prison,” she said on Twitter. “I will not stop until each of detained people is released.”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was charged with 12 crimes, including conspiracy to assume power unconstitutionally.
Political imprisonment of Belarusian opposition leaders
The latest sentences come against a backdrop of increased repression in Belarus, ruled by Alexander Lukashenko with an iron fist for three decades.
On Friday, the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Unlike Tikhanovskaya, he is still in Belarus, where he has been jailed since 2021.
Tsikhanouskaya originally rose to prominence after running in Belarus’ disputed presidential election in 2020, which was marred by massive fraud, according to observers.
A series of mass protests followed met with thousands of arrests, the death of several demonstrators, cases of torture, harsh sentences, and forced exile.
As per Viasna, Belarus had 1,461 political prisoners as of March 1, 2023.
