In The Heart Of Belarus: Poignant Drawings By A Political Prisoner bignewsnetwork.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bignewsnetwork.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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MAHILYOU, Belarus Belarusian opposition politician Paval Sevyarynets has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a regional court in the eastern city of Mahilyou on a criminal charge of organizing mass unrest.
Six pro-democracy activists and bloggers also
received prison sentences ranging from four to seven years on similar charges in connection with unsanctioned political and civic activities.
They include European Belarus civil campaign activists Maksim Vinyarski, Andrey Voynich, Paval Yukhnevich, and Yauhen Afnahel, as well as Telegram channel administrator Iryna Shchasnaya and blogger Dzmitry Kazlou.
All have been recognized by international human rights groups as political prisoners.
Belarusian Court Sentences Pro-Democracy Activists To Prison
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A regional court in the Belarusian city of Mahilyou sentenced a group of pro-democracy activists to prison terms on May 25. The defendants chanted in court: Belarus will be free! The sentences range from four to seven years and were based on charges of organizing mass unrest an official reference to unsanctioned political and civil activities. The defendants included Paval Sevyarynets, a co-chairman of the opposition party, Belarusian Christian Democracy, alongside four other political activists, a video blogger, and an editor of Telegram channels.
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Prisoners of conscience : A look at some of the biggest names on the list
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Commemorating Boris Nemtsov in Vilnius. / J. Stacevičiaus/LRT nuotr.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny s time as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience was short-lived – but not because he was released from detention.
Navalny received the designation on January 17 following his arrest at a Moscow airport by Russian authorities who said he had violated the terms of a suspended sentence stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction. Navalny and his supporters say that both the conviction and the alleged violation are unfounded, politically motivated, and absurd.
The subsequent conversion of the suspended sentence into more than 30 months of real prison time promised to keep the ardent Kremlin critic away from street protests for the near-term, even as he stayed in the focus of anti-government demonstrators and human rights groups such as Amnesty.
Prisoners Of Conscience : A Look At Some Of The Biggest Names On The List rferl.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rferl.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.