Five opposition protesters sentenced to jail in Belarus
May 6th, 2011 - 4:44 am ICT by BNO NewsMINSK, BELARUS (BNO NEWS) — A Belarusian court on Thursday sentenced five opposition activists to jail for participating in the mass protests against the December presidential elections.
According to RIA Novosti, a Minsk court sentenced Alexander Kirkevich and Pavel Vinogradov to four years in prison while Dmitry Drozd, Andrei Protasenya and Vladimir Khomichenko were sentenced to three years of imprisonment.
The five civilians were arrested and convicted for their involvement in the December 19 unrest in the Belarusian capital Minsk. The protests were against President Alexander Lukashenko who was re-elected for a fourth term.
The opposition alleged vote rigging and fraud. The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus over the post-election crackdown. Eleven Russians and 600 citizens of Belarus were detained after the demonstration.
In February, Belarusian authorities began sentencing protesters. Vasily Parfenkov was the first individual sentenced for participating in the December 19 protests. He worked on the campaign staff of Neklyayev and was given a four-year prison term.
So far, a number of high-profile activists, who campaigned for opposition candidates, were sentenced to jail terms of up to four years. In addition, Belarusian authorities arrested six opposition candidates, including Neklayev.
The candidates were beaten and taken by KGB agents to undisclosed facilities until it was later informed that they were held at a KGB detention center. The candidates were later released.
- Suspended sentences for Belarus opposition activists - May 21, 2011
- Belarus jails two more former presidential candidates - May 27, 2011
- Lukashenko sworn in as president for the fourth time - Jan 21, 2011
- Russian human rights activist detained in Minsk - Apr 29, 2011
- 11 dead in Minsk metro blast: Belarus president (Lead) - Apr 12, 2011
- Belarus calls off nuclear fuel swap programme with US - Aug 19, 2011
- US to expand sanctions against Belarus: Obama - May 28, 2011
- Opposition presidential candidate freed after being detained in post-election rally - Jan 04, 2011
- Belarusian police cordon off Minsk central square to quell protest - Jun 16, 2011
- Obama urges more pressure on Belarus' Lukashenko - May 29, 2011
- Belarus refuses to release Russian nationals detained in post-election riots - Dec 28, 2010
- Belarusian President warns action against protesters - Jun 15, 2011
- Belarus to abolish death penalty after US: President - Dec 24, 2011
- Belarusian police charge 31 people in post-election unrest - Jan 12, 2011
- Belarusian President Lukashenko says Minsk bombing case is solved - Apr 14, 2011
Tags: alexander lukashenko, belarusian authorities, campaign staff, crackdown, drozd, imprisonment, jail terms, kgb agents, mass protests, minsk belarus, opposition activists, opposition candidates, pavel, president alexander lukashenko, presidential elections, prison term, protesters, ria novosti, russians, vote rigging