A Minsk court gave Irina Khalip a two-year suspended sentence on Monday after jailing her husband, former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, for five years days earlier.
Khalip, a journalist and human rights activist, received a “softer” verdict for merely taking part in mass protests on Election Day last December. Her husband’s conviction was based on being deemed an organizer of the demonstrations.
Mass protests broke out last December over presidential elections that were widely seen as rigged by incumbent autocratic ruler Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994, won the election with 80 percent of the vote. About 700 people were arrested in the crackdown on the protests, including seven presidential candidates. More than 20 opposition activists have received prison sentences.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner called the conviction of Sannikov and other candidates “politically motivated.” He added that the United States would be watching the trials of other opposition members as the United States considers further measures.
The United States and EU imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on top Belarusian officials in response to the crackdown on the opposition.
Sannikov, 57, a former deputy foreign minister and co-founder of the Charter’97 pro-democracy group, said at his trail that he had been tortured and that the head of the KGB, the Soviet-style security service, told him his wife and 4-year-old son would receive harsh reprisals if he didn’t confess, according to Charter97 website.
Meanwhile, Sannikov’s sister, Irina Bogdanova who lives in London, plans to sue Lukashenko. She and other family members of political prisoners arrested in the crackdown on the election demonstrations, hold Lukashenko accountable for jailing their loved ones and destroying their families.
Khalip, a journalist and human rights activist, received a “softer” verdict for merely taking part in mass protests on Election Day last December. Her husband’s conviction was based on being deemed an organizer of the demonstrations.
Mass protests broke out last December over presidential elections that were widely seen as rigged by incumbent autocratic ruler Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994, won the election with 80 percent of the vote. About 700 people were arrested in the crackdown on the protests, including seven presidential candidates. More than 20 opposition activists have received prison sentences.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner called the conviction of Sannikov and other candidates “politically motivated.” He added that the United States would be watching the trials of other opposition members as the United States considers further measures.
The United States and EU imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on top Belarusian officials in response to the crackdown on the opposition.
Sannikov, 57, a former deputy foreign minister and co-founder of the Charter’97 pro-democracy group, said at his trail that he had been tortured and that the head of the KGB, the Soviet-style security service, told him his wife and 4-year-old son would receive harsh reprisals if he didn’t confess, according to Charter97 website.
Meanwhile, Sannikov’s sister, Irina Bogdanova who lives in London, plans to sue Lukashenko. She and other family members of political prisoners arrested in the crackdown on the election demonstrations, hold Lukashenko accountable for jailing their loved ones and destroying their families.
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