Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaja has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for high treason in her home country, reports the Belarusian news agency Belta.
Tikhanovskaja (40) has lived in exile in Poland and Lithuania in recent years.
In mid-January, the Belarusian authorities opened a trial against her, in which she was charged in absentia with high treason. She herself has called the trial a farce. In law, in absentia means that the person concerned is not present.
– These trials are not trials at all, it is a farce, and it has nothing to do with justice, she told AFP in connection with the start of the trial against her and several other opposition figures.
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Tikhanovskaya took over the role of opposition leader after her husband, Sergej Tikhanovsky, was imprisoned before the 2020 elections in Belarus. He was sentenced the following year to 18 years in prison.
After the election, Tikhanovskaya claimed victory even though President Aleksandr Lukashenko remained the official winner.
The 2020 presidential election led to a massive wave of protests in Belarus, which is often called Europe’s last dictatorship. Several opposition politicians were arrested, while Tikhanovskaja, among others, fled abroad.
Since her exile, she has directed harsh criticism at Lukashenko and called for sanctions against the regime.
