YouTuber who ran for president against Alexander Lukashenko is jailed

Belarusian YouTuber who ran for president against ‘Europe’s last dictator’ Alexander Lukashenko but was arrested as his popularity in the polls soared is jailed for 18 YEARS in maximum security prison for ‘organising mass unrest’

  • Syarhei Tsikhanouski was sentenced to 18 years in a ‘maximum security colony’
  • He was arrested last May when he ran for president and his popularity soared 
  • His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, ran in his place and also had strong support
  • But current president Alexander Lukashenko declared victory with 80% of vote 
  • Result was disputed and EU refused to recognise it, and brought in sanctions  

A Belarusian YouTuber who attempted to run against Alexander Lukashenko in last year’s presidential election has been jailed for 18 years for ‘organising mass unrest and inciting social hatred’.

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of prominent and exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was sent to a ‘maximum security colony’ in what is widely seen as a retaliatory move by Lukashenko – who is often dubbed ‘Europe’s last dictator’ due to his authoritarian style of government.

It comes after his regime was accused of staging a fake bomb threat earlier this year to force a commercial Ryanair flight  – which was carrying a dissident journalist – to land in Minsk, allowing Belarusian forces to arrest him. 

The close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is also accused of purposefully causing the ongoing border crisis in Eastern Europe by encouraging tens of thousands of migrants to travel to Belarus’s borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. 

Mr Tsikhanouski, who was arrested and jailed in May last year when his popularity with the voting public began to swell, was sentenced at the Gomel regional court on Tuesday following a 173-day trial. He had denied the charges.

His wife, speaking from exile in Lithuania, where she resides with their two children, branded the verdict ‘revenge’ as she vowed to continue trying to remove Lukashenko, 67, who is the continent’s longest-serving president, having taken power in 1994.

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of prominent and exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (pictured holding his photo), was sent to a ‘maximum security colony’ in what is widely seen as a retaliatory move by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko – who is often dubbed ‘Europe’s last dictator’ due to his authoritarian style of government

Lukashenko (pictured), a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also accused of purposefully causing the ongoing border crisis in Eastern Europe by encouraging tens of thousands of migrants to travel to Belarus’s borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania

Belarusian blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky (front), husband of former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, at his sentence hearing at the Gomel Regional Court on Tuesday 

‘This is a farce. It’s Lukashenko’s revenge on Syarhei because he was brave, stood up to him and got the support of the people,’ Franak Viačorka, a senior advisor to Ms Tsikhanouskaya and a family friend, told The Independent.

‘This is also a tool to threaten Sviatlana. Lukashenko has been trying to use Syarhei’s imprisonment to keep her quiet, but he has failed on that front as well.’

Five of Mr Tsikhanouski’s allies – Mikalai Statkevich, Ihar Losik, Artsyom Sakau, Uladzimir Tsyhanovich and Dzmitry Popau – were also sentenced to between 14 and 16 years’ jail each.

They were all also fined 2.5 million Belarusian Rubles (£744,000), for ‘material damage caused by crimes’, reported the Independent.

Mr Tsikhanouski had been facing a maximum sentence of 20 years, with prosecutor Denis Mikushev telling state media that the court had shown him leniency in only handing him 18.

Following his arrest, just three months before the presidential election, his wife Sviatlana, ran in his place.

The schoolteacher had no political experience but managed to drum up a huge amount of support as large parts of the country grew tired of Lukashenko’s iron-fisted rule.

Lukashenko declared he had won the election in August, claiming an 80 per cent portion of the public vote – which sparked widespread protests.

The result was disputed and the EU refused to recognise it, before imposing sanctions on the regime in October last year.

Lukashenko declared he had won the election in August, claiming an 80 per cent portion of the public vote – which sparked widespread protests (pictured)

Belarusian opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya raises a picture of her arrested husband Sergei Tikhanovsky, alongside others holding photos of political prisoners, at a film festival in Berlin this summer 

Lukashenko later admitted some of the protestors were beaten in a detention centre as he hinted he had no plans to hold talks with the opposition, which fled to to Lithuania over fears for their safety.

He told the BBC: ‘As soon as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin sits down for talks with Alexei Navalny then I will instantly meet Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for talks… Putin will never get around the negotiating table with him.’

Mr Viačorka added that he believes pressure is mounting on Lukashenko – and that today’s verdict proves it. 

He added: ‘I think we [the opposition] are in a much better place than we were before Spring. ‘Lukashenko has made one mistake after another. 

‘It’s clear he is losing his grip and right now I think it’s a matter of months, not years, before the regime falls.’

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