The deputy chairman of the independent Labor Union of Belarus has been handed a 30-month prison term for telling factory workers to consider forming a strike committee as a crackdown on dissent continues in the country.
The Vyasna (Spring) human rights center says the Minsk regional court sentenced Alyaksandr Mishuk on November 15 after finding him guilty of "actions against the national security of Belarus."
The charge against Mishuk stems from a statement he made last year while speaking to workers at the Belaruskali factory, one of the world's largest producers of potash, calling on them to establish a strike committee.
Mishuk was arrested in May after police searched his home in Minsk.
Also on November 15, two former investigators, Yauhen Yushkevich and Mikita Starazhenka, went on trial separately in Minsk over their support for protesters who challenged the official results of a presidential election in August 2020 that saw Alyaksandr Lukashenka claim a sixth term in power despite the opposition and Western governments saying that the balloting was rigged.
Lukashenka, 68, has tightened his grip on the country since the 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.
A day earlier, on November 14, the Minsk City Court sentenced artist Andrey Raptunovich to four years in prison for his intention to travel to Ukraine and join the Kastus Kalinovsky battalion of Belarusian volunteers to fight against Russian armed forces there.
After Raptunovich was arrested in mid-May, pro-government Telegram channels showed him "repenting" for saying that he wanted to join Belarusian volunteers and fight alongside Ukrainian forces against occupying Russian troops.
Raptunovich also said in the video that he took part in mass protests in 2020 against the official results of the presidential election.
Belarus is not a direct participant in Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, but it has provided logistical support for Moscow by allowing Russian forces to enter Ukraine via Belarusian territory.
In addition to sanctions for the repression of dissent, Western nations have slapped Belarus with an ever-increasing list of sanctions in response to its efforts to aid the Russian invasion.