Belarus: opponent Tikhanovskaya sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia

Europe 1 with AFP 6:31 p.m., March 6, 2023

A Belarusian court on Monday sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison the main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who lives in exile, 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 famous opponent, Pavel Latouchko, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Three other people were sentenced to 12 years in prison.

>> READ ALSO

- War in Ukraine: Belarusian President Lukashenko "fully supports" the Chinese peace plan

Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa reacted quickly, vowing to continue her struggle and her political activities after the announcement of her conviction in a trial which she described as a "farce".

A context of accelerated repression in Belarus

"Today I'm not thinking of my own sentence. I'm thinking of thousands of innocent people, detainees and those sentenced to real prison terms," ​​she tweeted.

"I won't stop until each of them is freed."

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 unconstitutionally".

Last week, the prosecution requested 19 years in prison against the 40-year-old opponent and refugee in Lithuania.

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.

The opponent calls his trial a "farce"

In an interview with AFP in January, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya described her trial as a "farce" and "personal revenge" by Alexander Lukashenko against the one who shook his power in 2020. This repression indeed follows a movement of historic protest in 2020 which erupted after the controversial re-election of Alexander Lukashenko in a ballot marred by massive fraud, according to observers.

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

>> READ ALSO

- In Slavoutych, on the Belarusian border, Ukrainians live with fear in their stomachs

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.

Nearly 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus

The husband of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a popular blogger who fiercely criticized Alexander Lukashenko, was sentenced in December 2021 to 18 years in prison, in particular for "organizing massive unrest" and "inciting hatred in society".

According to the NGO Viasna, Belarus had 1,461 political prisoners on March 1.

Westerners have taken several rounds of sanctions against Minsk for the crackdown on the 2020 protests but the regime still enjoys Moscow's unwavering support.

Belarus has agreed in return to serve as a rear base for Russian troops to attack Ukraine in February 2022. But the Belarusian army has not taken a direct part in the fighting so far.