The court in Belarus sentenced the opposition leader Sergey Tikhanovsky to 18 years

He was found guilty of organizing riots in the country and calls for violence against government officials and law enforcement agencies, BelTA news agency reported.

The activities of the oppositionist were recognized as an extremist aimed at manipulating public consciousness with the help of "destructive messages" Telegram. On this account, about 70 examinations were carried out.

Sergey Tikhanovsky was also found guilty of obstructing the work of the Central Election Commission and holding an uncoordinated protest action under the guise of collecting signatures with gross violation of public order and disobedience to the authorities.

According to the investigation, by his actions the oppositionist caused damage to the state in the amount of over 3.5 million Belarusian rubles.

Also on Tuesday, the verdicts were read to the operator Artem Sakov and the programmer Dmitry Popov. They were sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security colony. Oppositionists Vladimir Tsyganovich and Igor Losik were sentenced to 15 years, Nikolay Statkevich - to 14 years in a special regime colony.

Let us remind you that Sergey Tikhanovsky was detained in May last year at a rally in Grodno. He and his associates were suspected of planning a coup in the country from 2019. Human rights activists recognized the oppositionist as a political prisoner.