Son of jailed Belarusian presidential hopeful sentenced to 8 years in prison on disputed charges

The son of a jailed Belarusian presidential hopeful was convicted and sentenced Wednesday on prices that he and different activists rejected as trumped up.

The Minsk District Court docket sentenced Eduard Babaryka, 34, to eight years in jail for “organizing mass riots” and “inciting hatred” — accusations that he denied.

“I’ve not dedicated a single crime I’m accused of,” stated Babaryka, who has been in custody since his arrest greater than three years in the past. “The investigation didn’t discover a single piece of proof of my guilt.”

He’s the son of Viktar Babaryka, an aspiring presidential candidate who sought to problem Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in a 2020 election however was denied registration for the race and later handed a 14-year jail sentence.

The situation of the older Babaryka hasn’t been recognized for over two months, and his supporters suspect he was overwhelmed and put in a jail hospital.

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The son of a Belarusian opposition candidate who’s at present imprisoned has been discovered responsible and given a verdict on prices that he and fellow activists dismissed as fabricated. (Fox Information)

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The August 2020 vote that handed a sixth time period to Lukashenko was rejected as fraudulent by the opposition and the West, and the nation was swept by large protests, a few of which drew greater than 100,000 folks. Authorities responded with a brutal crackdown that noticed over 35,000 folks arrested, hundreds overwhelmed by police whereas in custody, and dozens of nongovernmental organizations and unbiased media shut down.

Opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who challenged Lukashenko within the 2020 election and was pressured to flee Belarus after the vote, strongly condemned Babaryka’s sentencing as “vile act of revenge” for supporting his father. “This injustice can’t be allowed to face,” Tsikhanouskaya stated.

The 9.5-million nation at present has about 1,500 political prisoners, based on Viasna human rights group. Its head Ales Bialiatski, who received the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, is serving 10 years after being convicted of financing actions that violated the general public order and smuggling — prices he rejects.