Belarus opens case against an 78-year-old activist who became a symbol of the pro-democracy movement

TALLINN – Authorities successful Belarus person opened a transgression lawsuit against the 78-year-old activistic who became the look of the country’s pro-democracy protests successful 2020.

Retired geologist Nina Bahinskaya was charged with repeatedly violating Belarus’ laws connected holding and organizing protests, Belarus’ Viasna quality rights halfway said Tuesday.

Authorities accused Bahinskaya of repeatedly walking the streets of the Belarusian superior displaying symbols striped with white, reddish and white: the aforesaid colors utilized by Belarus’ pro-democracy opposition. If recovered guilty, the activistic faces up to 3 years successful prison.

Bahinskaya is 1 of the astir recognizable faces of Belarus’ pro-democracy movement, which reached its highest during wide protests successful the summertime of 2020, soon aft the country’s authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, was declared president for a sixth consecutive term.

Observers wide condemned the ballot arsenic rigged. In March, Lukashenko was sworn successful to a seventh term.

Bahinskaya’s defiance and caustic lingua rapidly has made her a fashionable absorption figure. When told by constabulary successful 2020 that she was violating a authorities prohibition connected unauthorized demonstrations, she simply responded, “I’m taking a walk” — a snappy reply that was adopted by thousands and chanted astatine demonstrations.

“I noticed that the riot constabulary much seldom bushed protesters erstwhile they spot aged radical among them,” she told The Associated Press astatine the time. “So I travel retired to protestation arsenic a defender, an perceiver and a witness. I’m psychologically and intellectually stronger than the police. Even among those who detained me, determination were radical who respected me.”

The 2020 protests triggered a question of constabulary unit from Belarusian information services, and governmental repression that has engulfed the state of 9.5 cardinal people.

More than 65,000 radical person been arrested, thousands person been beaten by police, and autarkic media and nongovernmental organizations person been unopen down and outlawed, prompting condemnation and sanctions from the West.

Belarus holds astir 1,200 governmental prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski. At slightest six governmental prisoners person died successful prison, according to quality rights activists.

Bahinskaya has been antecedently detained connected aggregate occasions, collecting fines totaling 7,200 Belarusian rubles (about $2,400).

As portion of the lawsuit against her, Bahinskaya was detained successful aboriginal May and taken for a forced psychiatric examination, Viasna said. In April, U.N. experts reported that Belarusian authorities had resumed the Soviet signifier of forced psychiatric attraction arsenic a punishment for governmental dissent, and that astatine slightest 33 cases of punitive psychiatry had already been recorded against governmental prisoners.

“Bahinskaya is simply a awesome of absorption to totalitarianism wrong the country, and it is important for the authorities to interruption her,” Viasna typical Pavel Sapelka told the AP. “This is simply a amusement lawsuit against an aged idiosyncratic who has dedicated her full beingness to the combat for freedom.”

Belarusian absorption person Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives and works successful exile successful Lithuania, besides condemned the case.

“Today, the authorities is inactive acrophobic of Nina Bahinskaya’s courage,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “For decades, Nina has stood up to tyranny.”

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