MINSK -- An opposition activist in Belarus has been sentenced to 15 days in jail.



Maksim Vinyarski, an activist of the European Belarus campaign, was arrested on December 19 while lighting candles near a church in Minsk to mark the third anniversary of the brutal crackdown by police on opposition activists who were challenging the results of a presidential election that was officially won by incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka.



Vinyarski's sister, Alena, told RFE/RL that her brother was sentenced on December 20 for picketing Ukraine's Embassy in Minsk on November 30 to express support to pro-EU protesters in Kyiv.



Vinyarski spent several days in the capital of neighboring Ukraine earlier this month, where he joined thousands of Ukrainians protesting the government's decision last month not to sign an Association Agreement with the EU.

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