Belarusian opposition candidates face up to 15 years
Seventeen people, including six Belarusian presidential candidates, are facing lengthy jail terms for spearheading protests against the re-election of long-standing President Alexander Lukashenko.
The list includes opposition candidates Vladimir Neklyayev, Andrei Sannikov, Grigory Kostusev, Alexei Mikhalevich, Vitaly Rymashevsky and Nikolai Statkevich, and also Sannikov`s wife, journalist Irina Khalip, Belarus`s Vesna human rights center said on Wednesday.
The seventeen detainees are being probed over the "mass disturbances" and face charges carrying a maximum of 15 years in jail.
More than 600 people were sentenced from five to 15 days in jail for their involvement in a demonstration of over 10,000 people in central Minsk on Sunday. The unrest came as news emerged that Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe`s last dictator" by the West, had won 79.7 percent of the vote on Sunday.
Dozens were injured as a number of demonstrators tried to storm parliament.
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