A court in Minsk has sentenced exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya and four other leading opposition figures in absentia to lengthy prison terms on charges that are widely considered to be politically motivated.
The Minsk City Court on March 6 sentenced Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison, and another leading opposition politician, Paval Latushka, to 18 years, in prison. Three other opposition figures -- Maria Maroz, Volha Kavalkova, and Syarhey Dylevski -- were sentenced to 12 years in prison each.
Judge Pyatro Arlou found all five opposition politicians guilty of conspiring to overthrow the government, creating and leading an extremist group, inciting hatred, and harming national security.
All five left Belarus in the wake of a deadly crackdown on mass protests against the official results of a August 2020 presidential poll that Belarusian authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka claims he won. Belarusian opposition and Western governments say the election was rigged and the real winner in the poll was Tsikhanouskaya.
Tsikhanouskaya called the trial a "farce" and "revenge" from Lukashenka, saying she had not been given access to court documents.
"This is how the regime “rewarded” my work for democratic changes in Belarus," she said on Twitter after the verdict was announced.
"But today I don't think about my own sentence. I think about the thousands of innocent, detained & sentenced to real prison terms."
The sentences were pronounced days after a Belarusian court extended the prison term of Tsikhanouskaya's husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, by 18 months on a charge of "blatantly violating a penitentiary's inner regulations."
Tsikhanouski is already serving 18 years on a range of charges related to the 2020 election. The popular video blogger announced his presidential candidacy, challenging Lukashenka, and was disqualified and arrested before the vote. His wife then mounted her own campaign.
Thousands were detained in protests against the election results 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 abroad many of its leaders.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka's self-declared victory.