Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader, was sentenced in absentia on Monday to 15 years in prison on charges of high treason and conspiracy to seize power.
The reason for the conviction is Tichanovskaya’s role in anti-government protests in her homeland. In the summer of 2020, she took part in the presidential elections in the former Soviet Republic against former ruler Alexander Lukashenko.
She replaced her husband, the blogger Sergei Tichanowski. He was arrested by the regime after announcing his candidacy. At the end of 2021, he was sentenced to 18 years in a prison camp for “preparing and organizing mass uprisings”.
Tichanovskaya managed to escape abroad
After Lukashenko’s supposed re-election, which was not recognized by the West, Tikhanovskaya denounced electoral fraud and claimed victory for herself. The authoritarian head of state violently crushed the protests after the elections. Thousands of people were arrested or fled abroad, including Tichanovskaya, who was able to flee to Lithuania.
Just last week, Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Byaljazki was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A court in the capital Minsk has found the 60-year-old human rights activist guilty of financing protests against Lukashenko’s government and smuggling money. Byaljazki denies the allegations. He has been in prison since 2021 and was honored with the Nobel Prize last year.
Source: Krone
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