Skirmishes between protesters and police officers are normal protest dynamics. Belarus does not think so. It has sentenced Alyaksey Kudzin, a world kickboxing champion on grounds that he “assaulted” a police officer during a pro-democracy protest. However, this is only part of the Alexander Lukashenko regime survivalist crackdown. Radio Liberty had this information. Here is an excerpt:

A court in Belarus has sentenced world champion kickboxer Alyaksey Kudzin to 2 1/2 years in prison on charges of assaulting a security officer during a pro-democracy protest following a disputed election a year ago.

The Maladzyechna district court near Minsk on August 11 pronounced the verdict and sentence against Kudzin, a mixed martial arts fighter nicknamed “the Brick.”

Kudzin was detained in Moscow in January after fleeing to Russia in the autumn of 2020.

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