MINSK, May 7. /TASS/. A Brest court handed down prison sentences to 14 people, including one Russian national, for taking part in mass riots in the regional capital following the Belarusian presidential election, the Brestskaya Gazeta newspaper informed on Friday.
The Belarusian citizens were sentenced to up to two years behind bars. The Russian national got one year at a general correction facility.
This is one of the most large-scale criminal cases related to the protests in Brest after the election. On September 13, 2020, a group of protesters took to the streets of the city. About 100 people are considered suspects in the case. They are accused of actively participating in mass actions blatantly violating public order, which led to disruptions in the work of transportation, enterprises and organizations. The state prosecution claims that due to the actions of the demonstrators, the trolleybus fleet suffered damages to the tune of 619 Belarusian rubles 55 kopecks (about $240), and the autobus fleet received damages to the tune of 40 Belarusian rubles 37 kopecks (about $15). The Leninsky District Court in Brest issued a ruling to the first group of suspects on February 25 and to the second one on March 15.
Nationwide demonstrations engulfed Belarus following the presidential election held on August 9, 2020. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. Local protests continue to this day.