Belarus hands exiled govt critic Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 15 years in jail

Minsk: Belarus on Monday sentenced exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to 15 years in prison for spearheading historic protests against the ex-Soviet country’s leader, state-run news agency Belta reported. Tikhanovskaya, who was forced to flee to neighbouring EU-member state Lithuania after the protests sparked by a disputed presidential election in 2020, was sentenced in absentia on charges of high treason and “conspiracy to seize power.” She was sentenced alongside Pavel Latushko, a former Belarusian diplomat and culture minister turned opposition leader, who was handed an 18-year jail term, also in absentia. The charges stem from massive anti-government demonstrations that broke out against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko who claimed he had won a sixth presidential term. Lukashenko, who has been in power for nearly three decades, is a key ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The sentences came after Minsk on Friday handed a 10-year prison term to Nobel Prize winning rights activist Ales Bialiatski, a move that drew sweeping international condemnation. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.