the main opponent sentenced to 15 years in prison

A Belarusian court sentenced Monday, March 6, in absentia, to 15 years in prison the main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who lives in exile in Lithuania, in a context of fierce repression orchestrated by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.

According to the state news agency Belta and the human rights organization Viasna, another opponent, Pavel Latouchko, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. During this trial described as a “farce” by Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, the two opponents were notably accused of “conspiracy to take power unconstitutionally”.

The fight goes on

Reacting to her sentence, the opponent in exile vowed to continue her struggle and her political activities.

15 years of prison.

This is how the regime “rewarded” my work for democratic changes in Belarus.

But today I don’t think about my own sentence. I think about thousands of innocents, detained & sentenced to real prison terms.

I won’t stop until each of them is released. pic.twitter.com/9kQREV0sgl

— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) March 6, 2023

“Today, I don’t think about my own pain. I think of thousands of innocent people, detainees and people sentenced to real prison terms, ”she reacted on Twitter. “I will not stop until each of them is freed,” she promised.

During this trial, which took place in an opaque manner, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa was targeted by a dozen charges, in particular that of “conspiracy to seize power in an unconstitutional manner”. The prosecution had requested 19 years in prison against the 40-year-old opponent.

Nobel imprisoned

The conviction of Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa and the four other opponents is part of a context of accelerated repression in Belarus, a former Soviet republic ruled with an iron fist for three decades by Alexander Lukashenko.

On Friday, activist Ales Bialiatski, co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and figure of the democracy movement in Belarus, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Unlike Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, he is still in Belarus, where he has been imprisoned since 2021.

This crackdown follows a historic protest movement in 2020 which erupted after the controversial re-election of Alexander Lukashenko in a ballot marred by massive fraud, according to observers.

More than 1,000 political prisoners

These protest actions were put down with thousands of arrests, cases of torture, the death of several demonstrators, heavy sentences and forced exiles.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, who ran for president in 2020 in place of her imprisoned husband Sergei Tikhanovski, had during the campaign gathered crowds across her country, raising hopes for change.

Forced into exile, the one who once presented herself as a simple stay-at-home mother is now the face of democratic forces in Belarus and the enemy of a regime whose brutal abuses she tirelessly denounces.

The husband of Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, a popular blogger, was sentenced in December 2021 to 18 years in prison, in particular for “organizing massive disturbances” and “incitement to hatred in society”. According to the NGO Viasna, Belarus had 1,461 political prisoners as of March 1.

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