Belarus has sentenced opposition leader Tikhanovskaya to 15 years in jail for her exile.

(AFP) – After a trial in absentia on allegations of planning to topple the government, a Belarusian court sentenced exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya to 15 years in jail on Monday, the latest action in the Belarusian government’s months-long drive to stifle dissent.

Tikhanovskaya campaigned against autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko in an election that gave him his sixth term and was largely seen as fraudulent.

The election results sparked the greatest demonstrations in the country’s history. Lukashenko launched a savage assault on demonstrations, accusing the opposition of trying to destabilise the government, and Tsikhnouskaya was forced to flee to Lithuania.

Some prominent politicians and activists have been detained or forced to flee the country.

Tikhanovskaya and four other opposition activists were prosecuted in Minsk, Belarus, in their absence. They were also accused of forming and directing an extremist organisation, inciting hate, and endangering national security.

Pavel Latushka, another exiled opposition figure, was sentenced to 18 years in jail. Maryya Maroz, Volha Kavalkova, and Siarhei Dylevski were all sentenced to 12 years in prison.

They all departed Belarus once the demonstrations began in August 2020. The protests were the biggest and longest-lasting since Lukashenko took government in 1994. Since since, he has ruled the nation with an iron grip. His administration launched a harsh assault on protestors, arresting over 35,000 people and beating many more.

Ales Bialiatski, the country’s most recognised human rights champion and the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was among those jailed. Last Monday, he was sentenced to ten years in jail.

Tikhanovskaya campaigned against Lukashenko rather than her husband, prominent opposition leader Siarhei Tikhanovski, who was arrested during his 2020 campaign and condemned to 18 years in jail.

Tsikhanouski’s sentence was increased by 18 months by a Belarusian court last month for suspected breaches of prison rules.

According to the Viasna human rights organisation, Belarus’ most important rights group, Tikhanovski maintained his innocence throughout the closed-door trial. The lawmaker was confined in an isolation cell for two months under “inhumane circumstances,” according to the organisation.