Belarus activist charged with inciting subversion

BELARUSIAN authorities have charged Maria Kolesnikova, the protest leader and politician, with incitement to undermine national security, which can carry a five-year jail term.

Ms Kolesnikova is accused of calling for “actions aimed at undermining Belarusian national security”, the country’s investigative body said.

The ex-musician emerged as an opposition leader after Belarusians protested at Alexander Lukashenko’s widely disputed landslide victory in the August presidential election. Authorities crushed protests with extreme violence and tortured hundreds in prison.

The last of three women who led the protests to remain in the country, Ms Kolesnikova was abducted in Minsk last week and showed up at the border a day later. Her associates, who were expelled from Belarus, said she ripped up her passport to stop the authorities removing her from Belarus by force.

The crackdown on opposition leaders came just a few days before Mr Lukashenko met Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, who publicly pledged his support for Mr Lukashenko and gave the green light for a £1.2billion loan to the country.

Yesterday, the European Parliament passed a “symbolic” resolution calling for sanctions against Mr Lukashenko, after Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, attacked his “brutal” response to the protests.

The European Union’s foreign ministers will meet to discuss the crisis in Belarus on Monday.