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full screen Opposition figures in Ukraine are being jailed or fleeing the country, while President Aleksandr Lukashenko is resetting for new elections in January. Archive image. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP/TT
One of the most famous political activists in Belarus, Dzmitrij Kuchuk, has been sentenced to six years in prison for disturbing public order and undermining national security.
Kuchuk belonged to the environmental party The Greens, which was banned by authorities already last year. In addition to six years in prison, he is sentenced to pay the equivalent of more than SEK 60,000 in fines, reports the human rights group Viasna in Belarus.
Kuchuk was arrested in February in the capital, Minsk, when he laid flowers at a memorial site for Russian activist Alexei Navalny near the Russian embassy. Kuchuk has since been held in custody after recurring remand hearings every two weeks.
Presidential elections are to be held in Belarus on January 26, with incumbent President Aleksandr Lukashenko as the main candidate as all prominent opposition figures have been imprisoned or fled the country. Dictator Lukashenko has already led the country for six terms.