Exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya vowed to continue her campaign against authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko after a court in the country jailed her husband for 18 years.
“The dictator publicly takes revenge on his strongest opponents,” Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter Tuesday, following the conviction of Siarhei Tskihanouski at a closed trial in a Belarus prison. “We won’t stop.”
The popular YouTube blogger was convicted of organizing mass unrest, public order violations, stirring “social enmity” and obstructing the central election commission. His arrest in May last year after he announced plans to challenge Lukashenko in presidential elections prompted Tsikhanouskaya to run in his place.
A political novice, she quickly garnered strong support amid widespread public discontent with the long-serving president, whose claim to have won 80% in the August 2020 elections triggered an unprecedented wave of protests.
Tskihanouskaya fled Belarus the day after the vote following threats from officials. She has gained U.S. and European backing for her campaign to hold fresh elections, meeting U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders who’ve refused to recognize Lukashenko’s victory and imposed sanctions on his regime.
Five other people on trial with Tsikhanouski, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty consultant Ihar Losik, were also jailed for 14 to 16 years.
The Belarusian human rights center Viasna, itself a target of the government’s crackdown, also Tuesday expanded its list of the country’s political prisoners to 920 people.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics condemned the “kangaroo court” sentencing of Tsikhanouski and called for his immediate release. “This is a clear manifestation of political repression,” he said on Twitter.
