Belarus seeks lengthy prison terms for opposition leaders

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Monday demanded lengthy prison terms for the country’s exiled opposition leaders, amid a continued crackdown against dissent in the ex-Soviet republic. The prosecution demanded to sentence Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Pavel Latushka to 19 years in prison. Tsikhanouskaya, Latushka and three other opposition figures are being tried in absentia in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government, creating and leading an extremist group, inciting hatred and iharming national security. All five left Belarus following the unprecedented mass protests in 2020, after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko secured his sixth term in office in a presidential election the opposition and the West have denounced as rigged.