War against Ukraine: Exiled Belarusian pro-democracy leader given 15 year jail sentence in absentia

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has been given a 15-year jail sentence in absentia by the regime led by Vladimir Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko.

Ms Tskihanouskaya, who visited Scotland last year, was convicted in absentia for treason and "conspiracy to seize power".

Her husband, Siarhei, is serving an 18-year sentence in prison in Belarus, following his arrest two days after he announced his intention to stand in the 2020 Belarusian presidential elections.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya stood in his place and is widely believed to have won the vote, but was forced to flee the country after Mr Lukashenko claimed victory. She now lives in exile in Lithuania, from where she runs an alternative “pro democracy” Belarusian administration.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Following the sentencing, she said: “Fifteen years of prison. This is how the regime ‘rewarded’ my work for democratic changes in Belarus. But today I don't think about my own sentence. I think about thousands of innocents, detained and sentenced to real prison terms.

“I won't stop until each of them is released.”

Belarusian authorities put Ms Tsikhanouskaya on trial in absentia in January, accusing her and other opposition figures of trying to seize power in an unconstitutional way.

The elections sparked widespread protests in Belarus, during which time protesters faced human rights abuses and violence from the authorities. Thousands of people were imprisoned for taking part in the demonstrations, with more than 1,300 people still believed to be behind bars.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to ten years in prison on Friday by a court in Minsk in a trial condemned in the West as a "sham".