Watchdog

MOSCOW -- Seven members of the so-called New Greatness movement have been handed sentences ranging from 7 years in prison to 4-year suspended sentences.

The Lyublino district court in Moscow on August 6 convicted all seven defendants on charges of "organizing an extremist group intending to carry out crimes of extremist character."

Judge Aleksandr Maslov sentenced 27-year-old Vyacheslav Kostylenkov to 7 years in prison, 34-year-old Pyotr Karamzin to 6 1/2 years in jail, and 22-year-old Vyacheslav Kryukov to 6 years in prison.

The other defendants -- Maksim Roshchin, Dmitry Poletayev, Maria Dubovik, and Anna Pavlikova -- were handed suspended prison terms between 4 and 6 1/2 years.

All the defendants pleaded not guilty.

Earlier on August 6, dozens of people gathered in front of the court building to show support for the accused.

Police detained three activists who had worn police uniforms while staging a protest performance in front of the court building,

In their protest, the activists cut the throat of a mannequin with a knife -- sending out a spray of fake blood while one of the protesters chanted: "It is an act of sacrifice taking place here!"

On July 14, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Kostylenkov, 27, to 7 1/2 years in prison; Karamzin, 34, to 6 1/2 years; and Kryukov, 22, to six years.

The prosecutor also requested that the four other defendants be handed suspended sentences ranging from four to 6 1/2 years.

All of the defendants were arrested in 2018 and charged with creating an extremist group with the intention of overthrowing Russian President Vladimir Putin's government.

Critics say the case against them was fabricated by Russia’s security services.

The rights group Memorial describes the seven as political prisoners.

Pavlikova was 17 at the time of her arrest. She spent several months under house arrest, which sparked protests in Moscow and other cities.

The defendants say they had turned their online chat group, which was critical of Russia's government, into a political movement called New Greatness at the suggestion of one group member.

Later, it was revealed that the man who proposed the idea, wrote the movement's charter, and rented premises for gatherings was a special agent of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

In April 2019, another member of the group, Pavel Rebrovsky, was sentenced to 29 months in prison.

Earlier, group member Rustam Rustamov received a suspended 18-month prison sentence.

Both pleaded guilty and cut deals with investigators.

Another group member, Sergei Gavrilov, fled to Ukraine in October 2019. He has asked for political asylum in Ukraine.

MINSK -- A Minsk rally for Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has been canceled, just hours after the candidate's campaign chief was detained and "warned" by authorities not to stage what they called "unsanctioned" gatherings.

The rally had been scheduled for the evening of August 6 at the People's Friendship Park in Minsk.

But the candidate's press secretary, Hanna Krasulina, announced shortly before the rally was due to begin that the campaign was informed by e-mail that an event celebrating Belarusian railroad workers had been scheduled at the same location.

"They're not allowing us to hold a rally at a single venue in Minsk, same as in Slutsk and Soligorsk," Krasulina said.

"These actions by the authorities are completely unlawful," Krasulina said. "We have appealed this decision with the Prosecutor-General's Office, the Central Election Commission, and the Minsk City Executive Committee. But we won't provoke people."

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Vote-Rigging Fears Ahead Of Presidential Election In Belarus

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Earlier on August 6, Tsikhanouskaya's campaign chief Maryya Maroz was briefly detained by authorities in Minsk and "warned" of possible repercussions for staging "unsanctioned" rallies.

Krasulina told RFE/RL that Maroz was stopped and detained by several men near the entrance of the Lithuanian Embassy in Minsk.

Maroz said the men were officers from the Interior Ministry's Directorate on the Fight Against Organized Crime and Extremism.

She said the men transported her to the Interior Ministry's directorate where they "warned" her about "responsibility" for organizing "unsanctioned public events" before they released her.

Meanwhile, Belarusian authorities on August 6 continued to detain other members of Tsikhanouskaya's campaign team and her supporters in towns and cities across Belarus.

They include campaign event coordinator Andrey Khilchyk, who was arrested by police in the southeastern city of Homel, and Dzmitry Tsit, a campaign representative in the western city of Hrodna.Khilchyk was coordinating Tsikhanouskaya rallies scheduled for August 7 and August 8.

Tsikhanouskaya has managed to gather tens of thousands of supporters at rallies in Minsk and in other towns and cities across Belarus in recent weeks.

Belarus Votes For President

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

Incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's 26 years of authoritarian rule in Belarus look increasingly vulnerable ahead of the August 9 election.

But many analysts say he is likely win through a combination of fraud and the repression of an energized opposition.

Early voting started on August 4.

Opposition politicians, rights activists, and critics of Lukashenka have called on citizens to refrain from early voting, charging that it gives Lukashenka loyalists more opportunities to rig the election results.

The Belarusian Central Election Commission said on August 5 that turnout during the first two days of early voting was 12.75 percent of the country's 6.8 million eligible voters.

With reporting by tut.by