MINSK -- Belarus's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal filed by a group of bloggers, opposition activists, and the husband of exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, all of whom were sentenced in December on charges they and their supporters have rejected as being politically motivated.
Syarhey Tsikhanouski, RFE/RL consultant and blogger Ihar Losik, veteran opposition politician Mikalay Statkevich, and activists Uladzimer Tsyhanovich, Dzmitry Papou, and Artsyom Sakau, were rounded up by security officials before an August 2020 presidential election that saw authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka claim a sixth term in power despite widespread belief that the vote was rigged.
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 court on June 1 upheld the 18-year sentence handed to Tsikhanouski, the 16-year sentences for Papou and Sakau, the 15-year sentences given to Losik and Tsyhanovich, and a 14-term that Statkevich received for allegedly organizing mass disorder, inciting social hatred, impeding the activities of the Central Election Commission, and organizing activities that disrupted social order.
The exact details of the charges and the cases against the six men remain unknown, as the trial was held behind closed doors.
Rights groups consider the men political prisoners. The United States and the European Union has condemned the sentences handed to them on December 14, 2021, by a court in the southeastern city of Homel.
“The Belarusian Supreme Court’s decision to let stand the cruel and unjust sentence handed down last December to Ihar is deeply disappointing. We will not rest until Ihar is free once again and reunited with his wife Darya and daughter Paulina,” RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement.
The crackdown on the pro-democracy movement has intensified since mass protests erupted in the wake of Lukashenka's reelection, which has not been recognized by the opposition and the West.
Tsikhanouski was a popular video blogger who intended to run against Lukashenka before being disqualified and arrested. After her husband was disqualified, Tsikhanouskaya mobilized voters and won the election, according to the opposition and Western countries.
Tsikhanouskaya has been living in exile in Lithuania since fleeing Belarus due to concerns about her safety and that of the couple's two children.
With the Supreme Court decision, the six men are expected to be transferred in the near future to prisons to serve their terms.