A court in Belarus's northeastern city of Vitsebsk has sentenced musician and art manager Uladzimer Bulauski to two years in prison as authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime continues its brutal crackdown on dissent.
Bulauski was arrested in December 2022 and charged with "repetitive violation of regulations for holding public events." He has rejected the charges.
Judge Mikhail Yurchanka of the Pershamay district court found Bulauski guilty and sentenced him on May 26
Bulauski, who pleaded not guilty, has been arrested several times and sentenced to weeks in jail for organizing protest rallies against Lukashenka after he claimed victory in a 2020 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged.
Separately on May 26, the Vyasna human rights center said that May 30 had been set as the date for trial in the western city of Baranavichy of another activist, Ihar Shumilau.
Shumilau, who lost a leg in a traffic accident 10 years ago, was initially detained in late February and sentenced to 15 days in jail on a charge of "distributing extremist materials."
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 was not released after he served his term and instead immediately charged again, this time with insulting and libeling Lukashenka and insulting a police officer.
Hundreds of people have been handed prison terms in Belarus following unprecedented anti-Lukashenka rallies sparked by the election results.
Thousands have been detained and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by security forces. Several people have died during the crackdown.
The 68-year-old Lukashenka has leaned heavily on Russian support amid Western sanctions while punishing the opposition and arresting or forcing many of its leaders out of the country.
Lukashenka denies voter fraud and has refused to negotiate with the opposition, led by Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who supporters say actually won the vote.
The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the "falsification" of the vote and postelection crackdown.