Belarus Sentences Opposition Blogger Neronsky To 3 Years In Jail - Human Rights Watchdog

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2021) The Belarusian court on Tuesday sentenced the author of the critical YouTube channel "Slutsk for Life," Vladimir Neronsky, to 3 years in jail for insulting a government official and organizing unauthorized protests, the Viasna human rights center, unregistered by the country's authorities, said.

Neronsky was detained in May 2020 after returning from the city of Mogilev, where he had allegedly organized a meeting with viewers of his YouTube channel, which was qualified by the police as a "mass unauthorized event." The Mogilev court sentenced Neronsky to 10 days of administrative arrest. In June, he was accused of organizing events that breached public order, as well as insulting a government official in his video about the chairman of the Slutsk regional executive committee.

"The Lahojsk District Court has sentenced political prisoner Uladzimir Niaronski to a three-year imprisonment in a general-security penal colony, finding him guilty of calling to breach public order. The court, presided by Judge Aliaksandr Rybakou, concluded that the blogger, who runs a critical YouTube channel called 'Sluck for Living,' acted in conspiracy with blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski and politician Mikalai Statkevich," Viasna said in a statement.

Neronsky has previously admitted that he published videos in which he spoke out very emotionally, but did not plot anything criminal with Tikhanovsky and others. The blogger pleaded guilty to insulting the government official and expressed his readiness to publicly apologize.

Tikhanovsky planned to run in the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, but because he could not submit an application in person while under arrest, his wife Svetlana ended up registering as a candidate.

Though the election commission said that incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won the race, the opposition claimed that Tikhanovskaya was the true winner, triggering mass nationwide protests, which continue to be held every weekend.

Tikhanovskaya has since fled to Lithuania, from where she keeps rallying support from European leaders. Her husband is charged with plotting mass riots in Belarus. The period of his detention expired on November 29 but was extended until the end of February.