(CN) — Maria Kolesnikova, a presidential candidate and leader of protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday on charges of seeking to overthrow the government.
Her harsh sentence was condemned by Western governments as unjust and the latest outrage by Lukashenko's regime in its crackdown on opposition figures.
Kolesnikova, 39, became the radiant and defiant face of mass street protests in Minsk following the presidential election of August 2020 that gave Lukashenko an improbably overwhelming victory. Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and has built around him a repressive regime.
Also sentenced on Monday by Minsk Regional Court was Maksim Znak, a lawyer and another leading member of the opposition council set up in the wake of the election to challenge Lukashenko's rule.
Their trial was held behind closed doors and defense lawyers were forbidden from speaking about the details of the proceedings.
They were convicted on charges of imperiling national security, conspiring to seize power and creating an extremist group. The indictment accused them of declaring Lukashenko the illegitimate winner of an invalid election, causing a “loss of confidence of the people of Belarus in government and administration” and calling for strikes at state-owned enterprises for political reasons.
After the sentencing, their lawyer, Yevgeny Pylchenko, called the verdict “illegal and unfounded.”
“It is not based on evidence. During the trial, neither their guilt, nor even the commission of the crimes imputed, was confirmed,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the convictions and sentences unjust.
“We call for their immediate, unconditional release and for that of all other political prisoners held by the Lukashenko regime,” Blinken said in a statement.
David Sassoli, the president of the European Parliament, also called for the activists' release and said the parliament in Brussels backs the opposition in Belarus.
“It will never be a crime to stand up for freedom and democracy,” Sassoli said.
The U.S. and European Union have imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and other members of his government. Calls are growing for more sanctions to be slapped on Belarus, especially among EU governments close to Belarus.
“It is now clear that Lukashenko is not only a threat to his own people but neighboring EU countries as well,” said Jakub Kulhanek, the Czech Republic's foreign minister. “All the more reason to impose additional sanctions targeting Lukashenko's regime.”
This summer, Belarus has raised tensions with Poland and Lithuania by allegedly pushing Iraqi and Afghan refugees across their borders in what EU diplomats are calling a “hybrid war.” Last week, Poland declared the situation a state of emergency and sent its military to the border. Belarus and Russia are planning to conduct military drills along the EU's borders later this month, an event that will further escalate tensions.
Both Kolesnikova and Znak worked for Viktor Babariko, a former banker who was jailed after he announced interest in running against Lukashenko in the presidential elections.
After two other potential candidates were also jailed, their wives — Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Veronika Tsepkalo — campaigned with Kolesnikova against Lukashenko, garnering a lot of support.
Fearing imprisonment after Lukashenko was declared the winner, Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania and she has become the leading voice of the opposition. She has met top EU leaders and demands new elections and the release of political prisoners. Tsepkalo too fled into exile.
Kolesnikova, though, remained in Belarus and led protests until she was whisked away in a minivan by masked men in September 2020. After she tore up her passport when Belarusian agents tried to force her into exile in Ukraine, she was jailed and put on trial.
Kolesnikova ran a cultural center in Minsk and was a flutist before she got involved in politics.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union. Follow him on Twitter.
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