A Belarusian court has sentenced Lukashenko’s opponent Babariko to 14 years in prison

Today, 6:30 p.m.

Updated today, 12:18

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Belarus’s Supreme Court sentenced former presidential candidate Viktor Babariko to 14 years in prison on Tuesday. Opposition politicians pleaded guilty to money laundering as well as receiving a bribe while running BelGazprom Bank.

Babariko, an opponent of Alexander Lukashenko, the long-time leader of Belarus, does not admit his guilt and considers the case politically motivated.

The Supreme Court sentenced Viktor Babariko to 14 years in a maximum security colony.

Viktor Babariko, the only person involved in the Belgazprombank case, did not admit his guilt, because he did nothing illegal. The lawyers have proved this in their speeches.

Innocent! pic.twitter.com/mRcP9QWaUb

– Viktor Babariko (@viktar_babaryka) July 6, 2021

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus demanded that Babariko be sentenced to the maximum possible sentence for the crimes charged against him – 15 years in prison in a strict regime colony.

Babariko said in his last name in court last week that he could not confess to crimes he had not committed.

In May last year, Babariko applied for the presidential elections in Belarus on August 9. At that time, he was considered the main competitor of Lukashenko. Shortly afterwards, Babariko was arrested.

Babariko was one of several opposition candidates who were left behind bars or forced to leave Belarus before the election.

Lukashenko was declared the winner of the presidential election, but unprecedented protests against the falsification of election results began in the country.

CONTEXT:

Protests against the regime of the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in Belarus have not subsided since the August 2020 presidential elections. For their winner former President Lukashenko was proclaimed, however, the opposition accuses the regime of widespread falsification of election results and demands his resignation. The opposition considers Svyatlan Cihanouska to be the real winner of the election.

At the height of the protests, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Belarus. Protests continue, but on a much smaller scale, with many opposition supporters imprisoned or fled abroad.

May 23, 2021 Lukashenko regime forced to land in Minsk a Ryanair plane on its way from Athens to Vilnius. The aim of the operation was to arrest opposition activist Roman Protasevich. After this incident The European Union has stepped up sanctions against the Belarussian regime.

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