Belarus: Anti-government protesters sentenced

A Belarusian court on Wednesday sentenced four anti-government protesters to between 18 and 20 years in prison for terrorism and arms trafficking offenses.

The state-run BelTa news agency said the four individuals were members of an anarchist group that had set fire to police cars and had thrown a Molotov cocktail at an administrative building.

The quartet were arrested in October 2020 near the Belarus-Ukraine border. They have since been held in a jail run by the KGB security service.

Western doubts over Lukashenko's legitimacy

The incident occurred as thousands of people took to the streets to protest against Alexander Lukashenko, who had just retained power following the disputed election in August 2020.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Minsk after it cried foul over the nationwide ballot, a suggestion Lukashenko, who has led Belarus for almost three decades, has always refuted.

Since the uprising, Lukashenko has used the courts and the police to systematically repress his opponents and critics by locking them up for long periods or forcing them abroad.

Viasna, a local rights group, says there are currently 942 political prisoners in Belarus.

jsi/wd (AP, Reuters)