MINSK, Belarus, May 6 (UPI) -- Opposition leaders in Belarus have been sentenced to prison for up to four years for their roles in December election protests.
A court in Minsk ordered five Belarusian activists to prison for their involvement in Dec. 19 protests over the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports.
The post-election period that brought another term for Lukashenko, the first and only president of an independent Belarus, was marred by widespread unrest that saw six presidential candidates and at least 600 anti-government protesters detained.
Human Rights Watch in March said it was time the United Nations step in to investigate alleged ongoing political repression at the hands of the Belarusian government.
The European Union lifted sanctions against Belarus in 2008 in an effort to encourage Minsk to move closer to the West. The EU froze Lukashenko's assets, however, after the controversial election campaign in December.
