UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Monday condemned the lengthy prison sentences handed to Belarusian opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maksim Znak by a Minsk court, and urged President Alexander Lukashenko's government to release all political prisoners.
"The sentencing of Maria Kolesnikova and Maksim Znak shows the Belarusian authorities continuing their assault on the defenders of democracy and freedom. Lukashenko's regime must halt this repression and release all political detainees," Raab said in a statement released by the Foreign Office.
The minister also argued that "locking up political opponents will only deepen the pariah status of the Lukashenko regime."
Kolesnikova and Znak were senior members of the Belarusian opposition's coordination center that was created during the August 2020 presidential election. On Monday, they were sentenced to 11 and 10 years of imprisonment, respectively, on charges of creating an extremist group, subversion, and conspiracy to seize power. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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