Amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent in Belarus, a former worker of the Belarusian Metallurgical Works in the eastern city of Zhlobin has gone on trial for their participation in the 2020 protests against the official results of a presidential election that named the country's authoritarian leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, as the winner.
The Homel regional court's Judge Vadzim Bobyrau started the trial of the 29-year-old Dzmitry Shcharbin on February 16.
Shcharbin was detained in October and charged with inciting social hatred.
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.
He is one thousands taken into custody during and after countrywide protests following the elections. Several people died during the crackdown and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment by security forces.
Lukashenka, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994, has refused to negotiate with the opposition and many of its leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the crackdown.
Also on February 16, the Vyasna human rights center said the Minsk City Court sentenced to five years in prison 27-year-old activist Ksenia Khodyrava, who has been recognized by the human right group as a political prisoner.
Khodyrava was sentenced after the court found her guilty of "financing an extremist group" and "financing military activities on the territory of another country."
The details of the case remain unknown.
In the western city of Hrodna, activist Syarhey Malanchuk, who was earlier handed a parole-like two-year sentence on a charge of insulting an official, is on trial again, this time for the "violation of a presidential decree on regulations for receiving financial assistance from a foreign country."
Details of the case have not been made public.