Well-known Belarusian blogger Andrey Byalyauski has been sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly insulting authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka with his postings on social media.
The Minsk-based Vyasna human rights center said Judge Anton Dudal pronounced the verdict and sentence for the 45-year-old blogger on August 22, after a trial behind closed doors that lasted only a couple of hours.
Byalyauski's project -- I Have A Question on TikTok and YouTube -- raises social, economic, and political issues and is well-known among Belarusian Internet users. He was arrested in late April and accused of insulting Lukashenka.
After Byalyauski's arrest, his account on TikTok was taken over by Belarusian law enforcement officials.
Byalyauski is one of dozens in Belarus who have faced trials since the election, which the opposition claims was rigged, as authorities have brutally suppressed dissent in any form.
The crackdown was evident again on August 22 as police in the capital, Minsk, arrested 57-year-old businessman Syarhey Mirharodzki, his 55-year-old wife, Ala, and their 24-year-old son Serafim.
The newspaper Nasha Niva reported that the trio was arrested for their participation in anti-Lukashenka rallies after the presidential poll results were announced in 2020.
Rights activists and opposition politicians say the poll was rigged to extend Lukashenka's rule. Thousands have been detained during countrywide protests and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment by security forces. Several people have died during the crackdown.
Many of Belarus's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenka has refused to negotiate with the opposition.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the police crackdown.
