HRODNA, Belarus -- Belarusian businessman and political activist Mikalay Autukhovich, along with 11 others, has been handed lengthy prison terms on terrorism charges that he rejects as politically motivated.
A court in the western city of Hrodna on October 17 sentenced Autukhovich to 25 years in prison after finding him guilty of high treason and an array of other charges that amounted to accusing him of plotting a terrorist attack and conspiring to seize power.
Autukhovich, 59, is a former military officer and a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. He has helped the opposition raise funds for their efforts to oppose authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who in August 2020 claimed a sixth term in power in an election marred by accusations of rigging by the opposition and the West.
Investigators said Autukhovich and a group he led conducted several arson attacks against vehicles belonging to police officers and planned attacks on their property. Autukhovich has rejected all of the charges.
The other defendants in the case were convicted on the same charges, with the exception of high treason. Some were also found guilty of conspiracy and the preparation of actions to disrupt social order.
Paval Sava, Volha Mayorova, and Halina Dzerbysh were sentenced to 20 years in prison each, while Viktar Snehur was handed a 19-year prison term and Uladzimer Hundar received 18 years.
Iryna Melkher received 17 years, Syarhey Razanovich and Paval Razanovich were sentenced to 16 years in prison each. Lyubov Razanovich was sentenced to 15 years, Iryna Harachkina to six years and one month, and Anton Melkher received 2 1/2 years in prison in the high-profile case.
It is not known if any of them pleaded guilty. The trial was held at a detention center in Hrodna and presided over by Judge Maksim Filatau, who is under European Union sanctions for his support of the regime and its sometimes violent suppression of dissent following the disputed election.
Autukhovich previously spent seven years and five months in prison on charges of illegal weapons possession, which he and his supporters have also rejected as politically motivated.