Last protest leader still in Belarus on trial for ‘conspiracy to steal power’

Maria Kolinikova, the last protest leader still in Belarus, is on trial after 10 months in custody as the regime of Alexander Lukashenko seeks to crush all dissent.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has been cracking down on his opponents since unprecedented protests erupted after last year’s elections, which the West deemed unfair.

The start of the high-profile trial comes as critics of the regime accuse the Belarus regime of killing an opponent in neighboring Ukraine and attempting to forcibly repatriate an Olympic athlete from Tokyo.

Kolesnikova, a 39-year-old former flutist in the country’s musical orchestra, has become an icon of the protest movement in Belarus.

Together with opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and another campaign partner, Veronika Tsypkalo, Kolesnikova led last summer’s rallies against Lukashenko.

Kolesnikova, who said she would not leave Belarus voluntarily, was arrested last September because she tore up her passport to resist deportation to Ukraine.

Today, Kolesnikova and her lawyer Maxim Znak appeared before a closed court in the Belarusian capital.

The two are accused of undermining national security, plotting to seize power and creating an extremist group. They face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

dancing in court

In a video clip from inside the court, Kolesnikova, wearing a black dress and her signature red lipstick, is seen dancing and smiling next to Zanak inside the defendant’s cage.

She also made a heart-shaped symbol with her own hands, which she often did at protest rallies.

Kolesnikova is the only protest leader still in Belarus.

Tikanovskaya, who ran for president in place of her imprisoned husband, was forced to leave the country and granted asylum in EU member Lithuania. Tsipkalo also left Belarus.

Together, the three women inspired a wave of women’s protests in the country that Amnesty International has condemned over its treatment of activists.

«We miss Masha and Kassem so much!» Tikanovskaya said on Twitter on Wednesday, using her young age.

«Soon they will return home, like all those imprisoned for political reasons.»

She said that when Kolesnikova was arrested last September, members of the KGB security service put a bag over her head, pushed her into a minibus, and took her to the Ukrainian border. She jumped out of the car window and tore her passport, refusing to leave the country.

Kolesnikova and Znack previously worked with presidential candidate Victor Papariko, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison on fraud charges last month.

Both were part of a seven-member Coordinating Council, created in response to the disputed August elections to oversee the peaceful transition of power, which also included the Nobel Prize-winning writer Svetlana Alexievich.

Penalties

The opposition believes that Tikanovskaya was the real winner of the August vote.

Urging the West to tighten sanctions against Lukashenko’s regime, she met US President Joe Biden last week and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday.

The UN human rights spokeswoman, Marta Hurtado, said Tuesday that the situation in Belarus was «obviously deteriorating».

Belarusian dissident Vitaly Shishov was found hanged in a park in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Tuesday, and his supporters accused the regime of killing him.

Belarusian sprinter Kristina Tsimanoskaya said her team tried to forcibly return her to the authoritarian country from the Tokyo Olympics on political orders. On Wednesday, she flew in from Japan and was scheduled to stop in Vienna on her way to Poland.