Belarus Dictator Jails Opponents

Andrei Sannikov, the man who had the guts to challenge Belarus dictator Alexandre Loukachenko in the December 2010 presidential election farce, has been sentenced to five years in prison for fomenting "massive troubles to public order" because he protested in December against the presidential election results.

Three other young opposition leaders were sentenced to 3 years in prison and another to 3 ½ years.

All the convicted men will be sent to a prison camp.

Sannikov’s mother, 78-year-old Alla Sannikova, stated after the sentencing that Loukachenko had ruined her family, but that she was proud of her son.

The defense lawyer said she will appeal the verdict.

Sannikov’s wife, a journalist for the Russian opposition Novaia Gazeta, was also tried and two years imprisonment, suspended, are demanded against her. The verdict will be announced tomorrow, Monday the 16^th of May.

This brings the total of opponents jailed in Belarus after the December election to 27.

The American Department of State has condemned the decision to jail Sannikov. America and the European Union had already instituted sanctions against the Loukachenko regime.

It seems that efforts on behalf of democracy still have some way to go before we can declare victory against the Loukachenko dictatorship in Belarus.