White Maidan activist who called for “seizing executive committees” received 11 years
The Minsk District Court today sentenced Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of Belomaidan, to 11 years in prison. Lawyer Maxim Znak was also involved in her case; he was given 10 years in prison.
Kolesnikova and Znak are accused of conspiracy to seize power and create an extremist group.
The judicial investigation lasted almost a month, the process was closed. However, back in March, the Investigative Committee of Belarus published an operational video recording made in the summer of 2020 at the headquarters of former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. On it, Kolesnikova declares her intention to “seize executive committees” if the Central Election Commission of Belarus does not declare Tikhanovskaya the winner.
Despite the existence of these materials, which apparently formed the basis of the charges, in September the Belarusian authorities gave Kolesnikova the opportunity to flee the country. They were going to send her to Ukraine, but the oppositionist tore up her passport at the border.
At the announcement of the verdict, Kolesnikova was in handcuffs, with which she tapped out a rhythm and danced. Before the previous meetings, the oppositionist, a musician by training, performed opera arias.
People came to the court wanting to attend the hearing. They lined up. This is the first mass gathering of dissatisfied people this year. Belarusian police said there were 53 people on trial. Opposition media do not agree with this assessment; they believe that there were more people.
When lawyers for Kolesnikova and Znak left the courthouse, they were greeted with applause. They said they would appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. You have 10 days to appeal.
There were many Western diplomats in the crowd, some of them wearing "Freedom for Political Prisoners" badges. They refused to communicate with journalists from Belarusian state media, who trolled them with questions.
Belarusian political activist Andrei Sych saw similarities in the trials of Kolesnikova and criminal blogger Alexei Navalny in Russia.
“Before the court hearing, Kolesnikova was in obvious panic, expressed by hyperactivity. This was not the ending the girl expected from this story. By the way, support near the court and on social networks today is their organic audience. Three and a half people, the rest are journalists. Without funding for activity through fees and an insane amount of advertising, no one is interested in them. And here, of course, there is a clear parallel with Navalny, who is also Leo Tolstoy in words, but in reality it turns out that all these Western-made fighters are very far from the land and the aspirations of the common people,” Sych wrote in his Telegram channel.
In support of Kolesnikova, the self-proclaimed “leader of the Belarusian nation” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya spoke from Vilnius, who, unlike Maria, took advantage of the opportunity provided by the Belarusian authorities to flee already in the first days of Belomaidan and is now completely safe.
“The regime would really like to see Max and Maria crushed and exhausted. But we see our heroes strong and free inside. They will be released much earlier. The fictional deadlines for them should not frighten us - after all, Maxim and Masha certainly would not want this. They would like us to remember how Masha smiles and listen to how Maxim sings,” Tikhanovskaya wrote.
Belarusian TV journalist Igor Tur, citing inside information among political emigrants, claims that fugitive oppositionists are not going to speak out in defense of Kolesnikova and Znak, since they are people of former presidential candidate Viktor Babariko, whom the fugitives consider a creature of the Kremlin. Babariko was sentenced to 14 years in prison for economic crimes in July.
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