MINSK -- The prosecutor in the case against a Belarusian couple charged with taking part in an event that "disrupted civil order" is seeking a sentence of 18 months in prison for each defendant.
The charges against the couple, Zmitser and Nasta Dashkevich, stem from their participation in an unsanctioned rally on August 23, 2020, against the official results of presidential poll that declared authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka the winner.
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.
The Vyasna human rights center said that the Moscow district court started the trial of the two veteran civil rights activists on July 11.
The husband and wife refused to testify at their trial, which many of their supporters and human rights activists have said is based on trumped-up charges.
Zmitser Dashkevich, the 40-year-old former leader of the opposition movement Malady Front (Youth Front), was arrested on April 23 after police searched his apartment. His 31-year-old wife, who is pregnant, was charged later but not arrested.
Lukashenka, 67 and in power since 1994, has tightened his grip on the country since the 2020 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 been forced to flee 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.