Belarusian Protest Organiser Maria Kolesnikova Has Been Charged With Incitement to Undermine National Security, officials say.
Maria Kolesnikova called for “actions aimed at undermining Belarusian national security” using the media and the Internet, the country’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Kolesnikova, who became one of the faces of the mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko that began after a disputed presidential election in August, is currently in prison in the country’s capital Minsk.
She was jailed last week after tearing up her own passport last week to thwart an attempt to expel her to Ukraine, two of her associates told a news conference. Belarusian authorities claimed she was arrested as she attempted to flee the country. NBC News could not independently verify the government’s claim or the account of Kolesnikova’s associates.
She faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment if convicted of incitement.
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