Last week, a court in Brest pronounced another shameful and politically motivated verdict supporting Lukashenko’s regime repression against the people of Belarus. Darya Losik was sentenced to two years in prison for defending her husband in interviews against fabricated accusations and for appealing to Lukashenko on her husband’s innocence.

Her husband Ihar Losik was sentenced to 15 years in December 2021 for running a popular blog and is incarcerated in a maximum security prison. As a consequence of sentencing them both, their four years old child is now left without parents.

Almost every day there are new examples in Belarus of arbitrary and cruel sentences in political trials held behind closed doors. The repression by the regime of Lukashenko has reached an unprecedented level, with more than 1440 political prisoners, now affecting also the most vulnerable - children. This inhuman treatment of Belarusian citizens must stop. The EU reiterates its demand for immediate release of political prisoners.

The European Union will continue to support all the people striving for a free, democratic and independent Belarus.