Belarus hands opposition leader’s husband 18 years in prison

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A court in Belarus has sentenced the husband of the country’s opposition leader to 18 years in prison. The charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski included organizing mass unrest and inciting hatred and have been widely seen as politically motivated. Tsikhanouski, a popular video blogger, planned to challenge authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election. He was arrested two days after he declared his candidacy. His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, ran instead, drawing tens of thousands of supporters. Official results handed Lukashenko a landslide victory, but were rejected by opposition and the West as rigged. The activist’s wife told The Associated Press that “the dictator publicly retaliates against his strongest opponents.”