`Shameful' jail term for Belarusian activist
11-year sentence `politically motivated'
• Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last year, was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison, leading to an outcry from Western countries.
Kolesnikova, 39, had been detained after ripping up her passport to prevent Belarusian security forces from deporting her in a standoff at the Ukrainian border in September.
The musician-turned-politician became one of the faces of the mass opposition movement during the August 2020 presidential election, which the protesters say was rigged to extend Lukashenko's grip on power.
Lukashenko, who has denied electoral fraud, has been in office since 1994 and has faced fresh Western sanctions since launching a violent crackdown on his opponents.
Kolesnikova and another senior opposition figure, Maxim Znak, were charged with extremism and trying to seize power illegally.
Znak was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Both prisoners will appeal the verdict, Znak's lawyer told reporters.
The European Union denounced the verdict, while Britain's foreign minister called it an assault on defenders of democracy.
“The EU deplores the continuous blatant disrespect by the Minsk regime of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Belarus,” the EU'S spokesperson said in a statement.
The U.S. condemned the “politically motivated conviction and shameful sentencing” of the two and called the charges against them bogus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “These sentencings are further evidence of the regime's total disregard for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Belarus.”
Kolesnikova was among tens of thousands of people detained after the protests began. She was one of three women, all political novices, who joined forces to front last year's election campaign against Lukashenko after higher-profile male candidates were barred from standing.