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Belarusian Government Ups Crackdown Against Opposition Activists

VOA News

   Belarusian authorities have jailed several opposition activists as part
   of a mounting pressure campaign against protesters who are planning
   more demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko to force an
   end to his 26-year rule.

   A court on Tuesday sentenced opposition leader Sergei Dylevsky to a
   10-day jail sentence, while authorities summoned other opposition
   activists for questioning and dozens of others to appear in court.

   Courts in the capital, Minsk, are also contemplating charges against
   two members of a council that opposition activists formed last week to
   negotiate a transition of power after Lukashenko won a sixth term in
   office in an August 9 election that the activists and other critics
   allege was rigged.

   Lukashenko has rejected offers of dialogue from the opposition
   Coordination Council, whose dozens of members represent broad areas of
   Belarusian society, including Nobel Prize-winning author Svetlana
   Alexievich, who has been summoned for questioning on Wednesday.

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