Police in Belarus have detained singer Patrytsia Svitsina, who in 2020 refused to accept scholarship from authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka, citing her moral principles.
The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human right center said on May 18 that Svitsina was shown on pro-government Telegram channels "confessing" to taking part in mass protests against the official results of the August 2020 presidential poll that proclaimed Lukashenka as the winner, blocking public transportation operations, and posting "negative information" on social networks about Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
In 2020, Svitsina, who was then a student of the Ethnology and Folklore Department at the Belarusian State University in Minsk, publicly rejected Lukashenka’s scholarship amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent amid claims the election was rigged.
Separately, the Minsk regional court said on May 18 that the sentences of Raman Pratasevich, a journalist who was detained in Belarus in 2021 after the commercial flight he was on was forced to land in Minsk, and his two associates had taken force after they decided not to appeal their verdicts and sentences.
Pratasevich was sentenced to eight years in prison on May 3, while his co-defendants, Stsyapan Putsila and Yan Rudzik, who were tried in absentia, were sentenced to 20 years and 19 years in prison, respectively, on charges including forming and leading an extremist group, insulting Lukashenka, plotting to seize power through unconstitutional means, discrediting Belarus, financing extremist activities, inciting social hatred, organizing mass disorders, conducting acts of terrorism, and other actions aimed at undermining national security.
SEE ALSO: What Happens In Belarus If Lukashenka Dies?The three men were authors of the Nexta Live Telegram channel that extensively covered the protests against official results of the August 2020 presidential election that the opposition and many Western countries have said were falsified.
Meanwhile, the Brest regional court in the country’s west on May 18 began the trial of Valer Khamenka, an ambulance medic who is accused of allegedly "rehabilitating Nazism" by distributing Nazi symbols online in the wake of the August 2020 protests.
Hundreds of people have been handed prison terms in the unrest sparked by the 2020 election.
Belarus witnessed unprecedented protests over the election results that lasted for several months.
Thousands were 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 abroad many of its leaders.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka's self-declared victory.