Babaryko case: Belarus jails top Lukashenko critic for 14 years

Babaryko was once head of a Belarus subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom

A former challenger for the Belarusian presidency, Viktor Babaryko, has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.

The former banker was found guilty of taking bribes and money-laundering - charges he says were fabricated to prevent him challenging Alexander Lukashenko in last year's election.

He is among the top opponents of Mr Lukashenko who have been either jailed or forced into exile.

The UK and US governments condemned the prison term.

"To us they are real people with real families, suffering real harm at the hands of a ruthless regime," the US embassy tweeted.

The UK embassy said it would continue to stand up for the rights of Babaryko "and others in prison on trumped up political charges". Western diplomats attended the trial.

Babaryko, 57, cannot appeal against his sentence. His lawyer Dmitry Layevsky said he would still fight against the conviction and raise it with the UN Human Rights Committee.

Seven other defendants in the case, including several Belgazprombank executives, were also handed jail terms ranging from three to six years. They had pleaded guilty - unlike Babaryko.

Crackdown on opposition

Mr Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has cracked down massively on his opponents. Huge street protests continued for weeks after the disputed 9 August vote, which Belarus dissidents and Western governments say was rigged in favour of Mr Lukashenko.

The protests were broken up brutally by police, and thousands were detained.

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Earlier, raids on the bank Babaryko had formerly led - Belgazprombank - resulted in a criminal investigation. After he was barred from running in the election and detained last June, a trio of women joined forces to oppose Mr Lukashenko.

They included Maria Kolesnikova, an ally of Babaryko, who is also now in jail.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, whose opposition politician husband Sergei Tikhanovsky was detained in March 2020, claimed victory in the election after standing in his place. She was forced into exile with her children the next day.

She has condemned her husband's trial, currently taking place behind closed doors, as a "sham".

Ms Tikhanovskaya, now living in neighbouring Lithuania, called the verdict against Babaryko "insane".

On the Telegram messaging app she wrote "14 years for faith in an idea".

"The regime is doing everything to kill ideas in us that are even remotely similar to hope," she added.

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Belarus's forced diversion of a Ryanair passenger plane flying from Greece to Lithuania in May outraged the EU, prompting the bloc to tighten sanctions on Belarus, including a landing ban on its national carrier Belavia.

Roman Protasevich, the prominent anti-Lukashenko campaigner who was taken off the jet at Minsk airport, was moved to house arrest by the Belarusian authorities last month. His girlfriend, Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was arrested with him, is also now under house arrest.