The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Maria Peychynovych-Burich, condemned the decision of the Belarusian court, which sentenced opposition leader Svitlana Tykhanovskaya in absentia.
This is stated in a message on Twitter.
"I condemn today's sentence of 15 years in prison to Svitlana Tykhanovskaya. We in the Council of Europe support her in her tireless struggle for freedom, justice and democracy," the message reads.
On Monday, the Minsk City Court passed a verdict in absentia in the criminal case against the members of the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition.
Tsykhanovska was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony.
Former Minister of Culture Pavlo Latushka was sentenced in absentia to 18 years in prison. Three other participants in the case - Maria Moroz, Olga Kovalkova and Serhiy Dylevsky - were each sentenced to 12 years in prison.