Former presidential hopeful Dźmitryjeŭ sentenced to 18 months in prison

April 6, BPN. A court in Belarus has sentenced former presidential hopeful Andrej Dźmitryjeŭ to 18 months in prison, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.

A state prosecutor called for a two-year prison sentence.

The Maskoŭski District Court of Minsk started hearing the case against Dźmitryjeŭ on April 5. Judge Kaciaryna Muraška presided over the proceedings.

Police arrested Dźmitryjeŭ on January 11. A few days later, the Investigative Committee accused him of participating in the 2020 protests in Minsk.

The politician allegedly crossed Belarus’ border a total of 599 times, 33 times after 2020. Dźmitryjeŭ’s contacts with Westerners and the USA “may indicate coordination of his ‘political’ activities from abroad,” the investigators said, noting that he “was in contact with the US Department of State and its former head Hillary Clinton.”

Dźmitryjeŭ, 41, run for president in 2020. He is a member of Our Party’s organizing committee and co-chairman of the outlawed Tell the Truth organization.

Human rights groups consider him a political prisoner.