Sergei Tikhanovski, husband of Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. The Belarusian state news agency reports that Belta and is confirmed by Tikhanovskaya on Twitter.
According to reports, Tichanovski has been convicted of orchestrating large-scale riots. The verdict would say that he had called for violence against officials and security forces. He himself has denied all allegations. Five associates were also sentenced to prison terms of 14 to 16 years.
Tikhanovski is a popular blogger in Belarus who ran for president last year. That office has been occupied for 27 years by Aleksandr Lukashenko, better known as Europe’s last dictator.
The electoral commission banned Tikhanovski’s participation and in May 2020 he was arrested for preparing “serious disturbances of the peace”. His wife Svetlana then decided to participate. Other sections of the opposition rallied behind her, uniting the opposition for the first time could make a fist against Lukashenko.
When the president nevertheless achieved a resounding victory, with the help of large-scale fraud, Belarusians on the streets en masse. Lukashenko reacted ruthlessly. Thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of protesters were imprisoned or sentenced to years in prison. Lukashenko’s performance led to severe sanctions against his regime.
The day after the election results, Tikhanovskaya fled to neighboring Lithuania, from where she still directs the opposition to Lukashenko. She wrote on Twitter that she will not stop, even if “the dictator takes revenge on his strongest opponents”.
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