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epa09641507 A handout picture made available by Belta news agency shows Belarus blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky (2-R, standing) and Mikola Statkevich (R) speaking with co-defendants Artyom Sakov (L), Vladimir Tsyganovich (2-L) and Igor Losikstand (C) inside a defendants' cage during the verdict hearing in their trial in a detention centre in Gomel, Belarus, 14 December 2021. On 14 December 2021, a court in Belarus sentenced opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky to 18 years in prison. He had been detained in 2020 and accused of inciting riots, among other charges, as unprecedented protests against disputed leader Lukashenko erupted after the 2020 election. Tikhanovsky's wife, self-exiled leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, denounced the verdict. EPA/SERGEI KHOLODILIN/BELTA HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES