Leading members of the Belarusian opposition have gone on trial as part of a multi-pronged crackdown on dissent in the ex-Soviet nation that was rocked by months of protests over a disputed presidential election.
Maria Kolesnikova, a top member of the opposition Coordination Council, has been in custody since her arrest in September. She is accused of conspiring to seize power, creating an extremist organisation and calling for actions damaging state security.
The trial of Ms Kolesnikova and lawyer Maxim Znak, another leading member of the Coordination Council who faces the same charges, started on Wednesday at the Minsk Regional Court in the Belarusian capital.
When officers of the Belarusian security agency drove her to the border with Ukraine in September to forcibly expel her, she ripped up her passport and walked back into Belarus to face arrest.
“Freedom is worth fighting for. Do not be afraid to be free,” she wrote in last year’s message from prison conveyed by her lawyer.
“I do not regret anything and would do the same again.”
Just as Ms Kolesnikova and Mr Znak went on trial, a Belarusian Olympic sprinter flew from Tokyo to Europe after resisting an attempt by her team’s officials to forcibly send her home to Belarus after a dispute over coaching.
The 24-year-old runner Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said she could be in danger if she returns to her homeland.
Belarus was shaken by months of protests fuelled by president Alexander Lukashenko’s being awarded a sixth term after the August 2020 presidential vote that the opposition and the West denounced as a sham.
He responded to the demonstrations with a massive crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police.
Authorities have ramped up their crackdown on dissent in recent weeks, targeting independent journalists and democracy activists in hundreds of raids.
Prof Matskevich’s colleague, Tatsiana Vadalazhskaya, who was a member of the opposition Coordination Council, and Ulad Vialichka, the former head of EuroBelarus non-government organization, were also arrested following searches at their apartments.
The Viasna human rights centre said authorities accused them of inflicting damage to state security and inciting strife.
On Tuesday, Vitaly Shishov, a Belarusian activist who ran a group in Ukraine helping Belarusians fleeing persecution, was found hanged in a park in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Ukrainian police have opened a probe to investigate whether it was a suicide or a murder made to look like suicide.
On Wednesday Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered the country’s law enforcement agencies to better protect Belarusians who sought refuge in his country.
“Every Belarusian who could become a target for criminals because of political stance must receive special reliable protection,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
