Minsk Court Sentences Protester To 18 Months In Jail For Damaging Police Car - Prosecution

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) A Minsk court has sentenced a protester to a year and six months in prison for smashing the door window of a police car during an unauthorized protest, the city prosecutor's office said Friday.

According to the prosecutors, the perpetrator, identified as "S," at least once smashed a door window of a police car with an unidentified object on November 8 at the Ramanauskaja Slabada street.

"After taking into account the evidence provided by the state prosecution, the Central District Court of Minsk declared S.

guilty of vandalism ... As a punishment, he was sentenced to incarceration for one year and six months, spending his sentence in ordinary confinement at a penal colony," the office said in a statement.

The ruling has not yet entered force and can be appealed.

Belarus entered a prolonged political crisis after the August 9 presidential election, won by incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko. The opposition did not recognize the results, claiming that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the real winner.