A court in Belarus on Monday sentenced exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison after a trial in absentia on charges including conspiring to overthrow the government, the latest move in a months-long effort by the Belarusian government to suppress dissent.
Tsikhanouskaya left Belarus in August 2020, shortly after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko secured his sixth term in office in a disputed election that triggered the largest protests in the country's history.
Lukashenko unleashed a brutal crackdown on the demonstrators, accusing the opposition of plotting to overthrow the government; key politicians and activists were either arrested or pressured to leave the country.
Tsikhanouskaya and four other opposition figures were tried in their absence in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The charges against them also included creating and leading an extremist group, inciting hatred and harming national security.
Another exiled opposition politician, Pavel Latushka, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Maryya Maroz, Volha Kavalkova and Siarhei Dylevski were handed 12-year sentences.
All five left Belarus after the protests erupted in August 2020. The demonstrations were the largest and the most sustained since Lukashenko assumed office in 1994. He has run the country with an iron fist ever since. His government unleashed a brutal crackdown against the protesters, detaining more than 35,000 and beating thousands.
