The Supreme Court of Belarus left without changes to members of the Presidium of the Coordination Council (CS) of the Opposition of Mary Kolesnikova and Maxim Sign, which received 11 and ten years in prison, respectively on charges of conspiracy in order to capture the authorities and the creation of extremist formation. This is reported on the site of the court.
“The verdict (…) is left unchanged, and appeals – without satisfaction. The sentence entered into legal force,” the report said.
Earlier, Kolesnikova stated that he would not ask for pardon. “Naturally, no request for pardon can be any speech. After all, I, as Maxim sign and all political prisoners, innocent. You can not confess what I did not commit,” she explained.
In 2020, Maria Kolesnikova headed the EX-Head of Belgazprombank Viktor Babarico, who was considered the main rival of Alexander Lukashenko in the presidential election in Belarus. Two months before the vote, Babarico was arrested. Later, the banker accused of involvement in the conclusion abroad of hundreds of millions of dollars and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
According to the Belarusian CEC, Lukashenko’s presidential election scored 80 percent of the votes. It caused mass protests throughout the country that continued for several months. A number of oppositionists were arrested or fled from the country.