A Catholic priest in Belarus on Monday was convicted on charges of high treason for criticising the government and handed an 11-year sentence, in the first case of politically-driven charges against Catholic clergy since Belarus became independent after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

The conviction and sentencing of Rev. Henrykh Akalatovich comes as Belarusian authorities have intensified their sweeping crackdown on dissent ahead of the Jan. 26 presidential election that is all but certain to hand authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term in office.

The Viasna Human Rights Centre said Akalatovich, 64, rejected the treason charges. The group has listed him among 1,265 political prisoners in the country.

?For the first time since the fall of the Communist regime, a Catholic priest in Belarus was convicted on criminal charges that are levelled against political prisoners,? said Viasna's representative Pavel Sapelka. ?The harsh sentence is intended to intimidate and silence hundreds of other priests ahead of January's presidential election.?

Akalatovich, who has been in custody since November 2023, was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery just before his arrest. The priest from the town of Valozhyn in western Belarus, who was critical of the government in his sermons, has been held incommunicado, with prison officials turning down warm clothing and food sent to him.

Akalatovich is among dozens of clergy ? Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant ? who have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term. The disputed vote that the opposition and the West said was marred with fraud triggered mass protests. The authorities then responded with a sweeping crackdown that saw more than 65,000 arrested and thousands beaten by police.

Catholic and Protestant clergy who supported the protests and sheltered demonstrators at their churches were particularly targeted by repressions. Belarusian authorities openly seek to bring the clergy into line, repeatedly summoning them for ?preventive? political talks, checking websites and social media, and having security services monitor sermons.

While Orthodox Christians make up about 80% of the population, just under 14% are Catholic and 2% are Protestants.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for nearly 30 years and describes himself as an ?Orthodox atheist,? lashed out at dissident clergy during the 2020 protests, urging them to ?do their jobs,? and not fuel unrest.

Lukashenko is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin?s closest allies, allowing Russia to use his country?s territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. (Euronews, but headline rejigged)

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