20 Jun 2011

Do Soft Prison Sentences for Belarussian Show Lukashenko’s Vulnerability?

A Belarussian court handed suspended sentences to two former Presidential candidates on Friday for inciting riots after last year’s not-so-free-and-fair elections in Europe’s last dictatorship. Vladimir Neklyayev and Vitaly Rymashevsky were each given two-year sentences that were then suspended, hinting at the fact that the regime of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko may be sensitive to Western criticism.

While Prosecutors requested that Messers. Neklyayev and Rymashevsky actually service prison time, the court did no abide by their request, even after having handed down a 5-year term to Andrei Sannikov just last week – sparking rumors of sensitivity to Western pressure.

For the full article from Middletownjournal.com, please click here.