BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Belarus opposition figure jailed

ISN SECURITY WATCH (Wednesday, 15 February: 15.19 CET) - A court in Belarus has sentenced opposition leader Syarhey Skrabets to two and half years in prison for corruption, Radio Free Europe/Radio Europe reported.

Skrabets, a former member of parliament, was arrested in May last year. Human rights groups say the charges against him are trumped up and politically motivated.

The opposition leader was slated to run against President Aleksandar Lukashenko in next month's presidential elections. He withdrew from the race in mid-January, along with several other opposition candidates, saying the vote would not be free and fair.

Only four opposition candidates are now registered for the elections.

Several opposition leaders have been jailed ahead of the election, which Lukashenka is widely expected to win.

US administration routinely brands Belarus as the last dictatorship in Europe.

Lukashenko has ruled the country since 1994.

The recent revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, which have seen long-time leaders ousted, have sparked speculation that Belarus could also be ripe for change. However, Lukashenko has made it clear he is prepared to crush any revolution against his regime.

Lukashenko has warned that police would "give them [protesters, revolutionaries] such a going-over they won't know what's hit them", if there are any "provocations" during the upcoming elections, the Times of London reported.

(By ISN Security Watch staff, Times of London, RFE/RL)

Source:

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=14793