Catholic priest in Belarus sentenced to 11 years as crackdown on dissent continues A Catholic priest in Belarus on Monday was convicted on charges of high treason for criticizing the government and handed an 11-year sentence, in the first case of politically-driven charges against Catholic clergy since Belarus became independent in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
“For the first time since the fall of the Communist regime, a Catholic priest in Belarus was convicted on criminal charges that are leveled against political prisoners,” said Viasna's representative Pavel Sapelka.
Henrykh Akalatovich comes as Belarusian authorities have intensified their sweeping crackdown on dissent ahead of the Jan. 26 presidential election that is all but certain to hand authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term in office.
Arkatovich is among dozens of clergy — Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant — who have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term.
The priest from the town of Valozhyn in western Belarus, who was critical of the government in his sermons, has been held incommunicado, with prison officials turning down warm clothing and food sent to him.
