Lukashenko regime sentenced Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova to 11 years in prison

A court of Belarus condemned one of the country’s main opposition figures, Maria Kolesnikova, to 11 years in prison on Monday after leading unprecedented protests against the president Alexander Lukashenko Last year.

Kolesnikova’s lawyer, Maxime Znak, also received a 10-year prison sentence, according to the press service of the former presidential candidate Viktor babaryko, whose campaign was led by Kolesnikova.

She is the only major leader of last year’s mass protests still in Belarus. He has been in detention for a year after resisting deportation by breaking his passport.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, was repress opponents since the demonstrations which exploded when he was proclaimed the winner in elections deemed fraudulent.

In a video from inside the court released by Russian media, Kolesnikova, who was handcuffed in an accused’s cage, made a heart-shaped symbol with her hands, which he used to do at protest rallies. She was pictured smiling and wearing her signature dark red lipstick.

“Dear viewers, we are glad to see youZnak, who was standing next to her, said in the video before the sentence was read.

Kolesnikova, a 39-year-old former flautist of the country’s philharmonic orchestra, he has become a symbol of the protest movement in Belarus.

She was arrested last September when KGB agents put a bag over her head, pushed her into a minibus and took her to the border with Ukraine.

He resisted the attempt to expel him from the country, allegedly jumping out of the car.

“Hero”

Kolesnikova was part of a female trio of protest leaders with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Véronique Tsepkalo, who fled the country.

Tikhanovskaya, who ran for president in place of her imprisoned husband and claims to have won the elections, he called the couple “heroes” after the conviction.

“The regime wants us to see them crushed and exhausted. But look: they smile and dance “Tikhanovskaya, who now resides in Lithuania, said on Twitter.

Together, the three women inspired a wave of protests led by women.

Kolesnikova and Znak, 40, had worked for Babaryko, considered one of the strongest opponents of Lukashenko, who was jailed in July for 14 years for fraud.

Western countries imposed sanctions on the Lukashenko regime for the treatment of opposition activists at home and abroad.

Lukashenko faced a global protest in May when an airliner was forced to land in Minsk and a dissident on board was arrested.

Belarus returned to the international stage in August after an athlete said her team tried to force her out of the Tokyo Olympics, and an opposition activist in exile was found hanged in a park in Ukraine.

But with As protests have lost momentum and authorities seek to eliminate remaining pockets of dissent, Lukashenko has shown no sign of resigning and maintains the support of Russia, a key ally.

(With information from AFP)

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