Syarhei Tsikhanoski, husband of the leader of the Belarusian opposition party Svyatlana ZihanusskayaAccording to the official Berta News Agency, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for organizing large-scale riots and inciting social hatred.
Five supporters who were tried with Qihanuski were sentenced to 14 to 16 years in prison.
Video blogger Qihanus was sentenced to prison in May 2020 because he was preparing to compete with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the August presidential election. He denied these allegations. His wife stood in his place in the election, This led to months of mass protests After Lukashenko Overwhelming victory The opposition accused him of manipulating votes.
A few hours before the sentence was pronounced, Qihanusskaya called it “illegal” and “not to be tolerated”.
“When commenting on the so-called’judgment’, I will only ask myself one question: How will I deal with this news? I will continue to defend the person I love, who has become the leader of millions of Belarusians,” she said in the video Said in the message. “I will try to do some very difficult things, perhaps impossible things, so that the moment we meet him in the new environment is closer Belarus. “
After the election, Qihanusskaya fled to neighboring Lithuania Total suppression. She has since risen to fame, Met with a series of Western leaders.
Her husband’s trial is not public, and lawyers are prohibited from disclosing details of the case.
In July, a Belarusian court convicted former presidential candidate Viktor Babariko (Viktor Babariko) guilty of corruption and sentenced him to 14 years in prison, but he denied the charges. Last September, Maria Kolesnikova was one of the leaders of the massive street protests against Lukashenko last year. Sentenced to 11 years in prison.
UN Special Rapporteur Ana Ismailin said that more than 35,000 people have been arbitrarily detained in the past year, and tens of thousands of Belarusians have fled abroad for fear of repression.
