Belarus opposition leader jailed in Lukashenko ‘purge’

Maria Kalesnikava, prominent opponent of country's authoritarian leader, sentenced to 11 years

A Belarusian court has sentenced the senior opposition leader Maria Kalesnikava to 11 years in prison, punishing one of the most prominent opponents of the country's authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

Kalesnikava, a leader of the opposition's coordination council, was one of three women last year who united to lead an uprising in which tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets in the largest protests in the country's modern history.