Maria Kolesnikova is free

Belarusian political prisoner Maria Kolesnikova has been released. The Mirror writes about this with reference to her sister Tatyana Khomich, who spoke with Maria on the phone.

The Telegram channel “Pool of the First,” associated with Lukashenko’s press service, reports that he has decided to pardon “123 citizens of various countries” in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potassium.

“As part of the agreements reached with US President Donald Trump and at his request, in connection with the lifting of illegal sanctions against the potash industry of the Republic of Belarus introduced by the Administration of the previous US President Biden, and in connection with the transition to the practical plane of the process of lifting other illegal sanctions against the Republic of Belarus.

The head of state decided to pardon 123 citizens of various countries convicted in accordance with the Laws of the Republic of Belarus for committing crimes of various types - espionage, terrorist and extremist activities.”

The day before, former political prisoner Sergei Tikhanovsky wrote a post in which he announced the release of political prisoners “from the vile clutches of red-green Hamas.” He remembered his release and recommended that others, after their release, take a break from public activities, “take a break from the press and from advertising filming against their background.”

Maria Kolesnikova is a Belarusian political activist and one of the key figures in the 2020 protest movement. Chief of staff of Viktor Babariko in the 2020 Belarusian presidential elections. Representative of the joint headquarters of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and member of the presidium of the Coordination Council for organizing the process of overcoming the political crisis, leader of the “Together” party.

After the announcement of the official results of the elections, which the opposition and the international community considered fraudulent, Kolesnikova participated in the coordination of peaceful protests against the government of Alexander Lukashenko. In September 2020, they tried to forcibly expel her from the country, but she refused to leave Belarus and was detained.

In 2021, a court in Minsk sentenced Maria Kolesnikova to 11 years in prison on charges of “conspiracy to seize power,” “creation of an extremist group,” and “calls for actions aimed at harming national security.” Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Viasna, recognized Kolesnikova as a political prisoner and called her case politically motivated.

Since her arrest, Kolesnikova has been in prison; her state of health and conditions of detention have repeatedly raised concerns among human rights activists and international structures.