Belarusian activist sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Belarusian activist who stabbed himself in the neck two months ago to protest political repression has been sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison. A court on Monday found 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau guilty of violating public order, resisting police and fraud. In June, Latypau used a pen to inflict a wound on his neck while he was sitting in court. Before stabbing himself, he told his father he had been threatened with prosecution of his relatives if he failed to admit his guilt. Latypau was arrested during the big protests against Belarus’ authoritarian leader, President Alexander Lukashenko. The protests were triggered by Lukashenko winning an August election widely seen as rigged. More than 35,000 people were arrested and thousands beaten by police in the wake of the protests.