June 11, Pozirk. The Minsk City Court has imposed lengthy prison sentences on a Belarusian family after finding its members guilty of high treason and arms smuggling, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.
Piełahieja Korsakaŭ, who is based in Ukraine, was tried in her absence, while her parents are being held in a Belarusian prison, Salidarnasc reported.
Piełahieja was sentenced to 11 years in prison, while her parents, Dźmitryj and Taćciana, received prison terms of 14 and 12 years, respectively.
According to the BelPol intelligence group, Taćciana, 57, and Piełahieja, 28, previously worked as daycare center teachers. Dźmitryj worked as a maintenance employee at a daycare center.
Human rights defenders believe the prosecution may be politically motivated. High treason charges are routinely used by the Belarusian authorities against political opponents of the government.
Politically motivated repression has continued in Belarus since the mass protests against alleged election fraud in 2020.
