MINSK -- A court in Minsk has handed sentences to a Belarusian couple for their participation in an unsanctioned march in August 2020 challenging the official results of disputed presidential poll that handed victory to authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Judge Tatsyana Pirozhnikava of the Moscow district court sentenced the former leader of Malady (Youth) Front opposition movement, Zmitser Dashkevich, to 18 months in prison after convicting him of taking part in "an event that disrupted public order."
Nasta Dashkevich with two of the couple's children in 2018
Dashkevich's wife, Nasta, who delivered the couple's fourth child last month, was handed a three-year, parole-like sentence.
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Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
The husband and wife refused to testify at their trial, which started on July 11 and which many of their supporters and human rights activists have said was based on trumped-up charges.
The 40-year-old Zmitser Dashkevich was arrested on April 23 after police searched his apartment. His 31-year-old wife, who was pregnant at the time, was charged later but not arrested.
Lukashenka, 67 and in power since 1994, has tightened his grip on the country since a disputed 2020 presidential election by arresting -- sometimes violently -- tens of thousands of people who questioned the official results of the poll.
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 the country's legitimate leader. Many countries have imposed sanctions against his government in response to the suppression of dissent.