Belarusian Presidential Candidate Babaryka Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison

MINSK -- A court in Belarus has sentenced former presidential contender Viktar Babaryka to 14 years in prison on corruption charges.

Babaryka's defense team said before the ruling that the charges against their client had been fabricated to thwart his political ambitions.

Babaryka, the former head of the Russian-owned Belgazprombank, was arrested in June 2020 as he attempted to register as a candidate to run against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka in a presidential vote critics and observers say was massively rigged.

Prosecutor Syarhey Hirhel had asked the court in Minsk to convict Babaryka on charges of bribe-taking and money laundering and sentence him to 15 years in prison.

Hirhel also asked Judge Ihar Lyubavitski on June 22 to sentence the other co-defendants in the case to prison terms between three years and six years.

Three days before Babaryka's arrest last year, Belarusian authorities took control of Belgazprombank and detained several top executives on charges of tax evasion and money laundering.

The trial was held in the premises of the Moscow district court in Minsk by judges from the country's Supreme Court, a move that has been criticized by Babaryka and his defense team, who said that would deny them any chance of appeal in the case of a guilty verdict.

Lukashenka was declared the victor of the August 2020 election, triggering protests by tens of thousands of Belarusians who say the vote was rigged. The demonstrations lasted for months as Belarusians demanded Lukashenka, in power since 1994, step down and hold fresh elections.

With reporting by Reuters