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Belarusian court hands two opposition figureheads decade-long prison terms

The presiding judge announced that the ruling had not yet taken effect and an appeal could be filed with the criminal division of the Belarusian Supreme Court
Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak Sergei Bobylev/TASS
Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

MINSK, September 6. /TASS/. The Minsk Regional Court has sentenced members of the Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak to 11 years and ten years in prison respectively, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.

Znak is supposed to serve his sentence in a high security penal colony, while Kolesnikova is going to do time in a general security penal colony.

Znak and Kolesnikova were found guilty of conspiring to seize power by using unconstitutional means, creating and leading an extremist organization, publicly calling for the seizure of power and conducting other actions aimed at undermining Belarus’ national security, including appeals to a foreign country and foreign and international organizations through media outlets and the Internet.

The presiding judge announced that the ruling had not yet taken effect and an appeal could be filed with the criminal division of the Belarusian Supreme Court. One of the defendants’ lawyers said that the defense team would appeal against the sentence.

Kolesnikova and Znak were apprehended in September 2020.

Belarus held its presidential election on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won the election and opposition figurehead Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second. She refused to recognize the election’s results and left Belarus. Tikhanovskaya later initiated the creation of a coordination council to ensure the transfer of power, which was branded as illegal by the country’s authorities.