Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya convicted of conspiracy, sentenced to 15 years

Five Belarusian opposition leaders have been convicted of conspiracy and related charges, including organizing an extremist group, and undermining the government of Belarus and its state security.

The trial took place in Minsk. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran for president of Belarus in 2020, has been sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony. Earlier, the prosecution had requested 19-year prison terms for both Tsikhanouskaya and the former culture minister of Belarus, Pavel Latushko.

Latushko has now been sentenced to 18 years. The remaining defendants, Maria Moroz, Olga Kovalkova, and Sergey Dylevsky, each got a 12-year prison sentence.

The 2020 Belarusian presidential election led to mass protests when the opposition claimed that its results had been falsified in favor of Alexander Lukashenko. According to the official vote count, Tsikhanouskaya had supposedly come second in the race. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians protested this outcome. After the authorities brutally suppressed the demonstrations, many of the country’s opposition politicians were forced to leave Belarus, while others went to prison.

Last summer, Belarus introduced the practice of trying cases in absentia. All five defendants just convicted are currently abroad, and the trial took place in their absence.