Watchdog

MINSK -- Two Belarusian independent union leaders and an activist have been handed lengthy prison terms in Minsk as a crackdown against dissent continues under authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

A Minsk court on January 5 sentenced the leaders of the Union of Workers of Electronic Outputs Producing Industry (REP), Vasil Berasnyou and Henadz Fyadynich, to nine years in prison each. REP activist Vyachaslau Areshka was handed eight years in prison.

The Crisis In Belarus

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

Judge Anastasia Papko found the defendants guilty of creating an extremist organization and taking part in its activities, calls for activities damaging national security, and inciting social hatred.

Berasnyou, Fyadynich, and Areshka were arrested in April 2022 for their activities related to protests against the official results of an August 2020 presidential election that gave Lukashenka another term. Many in Belarus have said the election was rigged.

It is not known how the men pleaded in the case. Belarusian human right organizations have recognized them as political prisoners.

Lukashenka, 68, has tightened his grip on the country since the disputed election by arresting -- sometimes violently -- tens of thousands of people. Fearing for their safety, most opposition members have fled the country.

The West has refused to recognize the results of the election and does not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader.

Many countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against his regime in response to the suppression of dissent in the country.

Iran says it is closing the French Institute for Research in Tehran "as a first step" against "insulting" cartoons of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that were published by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The controversial weekly published dozens of cartoons mocking Khamenei, the highest religious and political figure in Iran, as part of a competition launched in December in support of Iranians who have been protesting against the theocratic system following the death of a young woman while in police custody.

Some of the cartoons depicted sexual scenes that included Khamenei, who has held power in the country for more than 30 years, and other Iranian clerics. Other entries were aimed at the brutal crackdown on protesters launched by officials in Iran, including sentencing several demonstrators to death.

"In reviewing cultural relations with France and examining the possibility of continuing French cultural activities in Iran, the ministry is ending the activities of the French Institute for Research in Iran as a first step," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The day before, Tehran summoned France's ambassador to Iran to protest the "insulting" cartoons.

Charlie Hebdo has a history of pushing the limits of free speech on race, religion, and politics in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim community.

In January 2015, 12 people were killed by Islamist militants in an attack at the magazine's Paris office over the publication of cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

French officials did not immediately respond to the announcement of the closure of the institute, but Foreign Minster Catherine Colonna told LCI TV on January 5 that Iran was pursuing bad policies through its violence against its population.

"Let's remember that in France press freedom exists, contrary to what's happening in Iran and that this (freedom) is overseen by a judge within the framework of an independent judiciary, which is something that Iran without doubt doesn't know well," she said in response to the summoning of the French ambassador.

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Will Iran's Protest Movement Survive?

The protests over the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was being held by police for allegedly wearing a hijab, or head scarf, improperly, have rocked Iran.

Tens of thousands of Iranians have flooded streets across the country on a regular basis to protest against a lack of rights, with women and schoolgirls making unprecedented shows of support in the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.

Several thousand people have been arrested, including protesters, journalists, lawyers, activists, and digital-rights defenders. Two protesters have been executed after receiving death sentences, while several others have been handed similar penalties and are on death row.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP