Former Olympic swimmer Aljaksandra Herasimenja (36) was sentenced to 12 years in prison in her home country of Belarus. You have long been an outspoken critic of President Alexander Lukashenko and the war in Ukraine.
It’s the human rights organization Vyasna Human Rights Center which reports the prison sentence, reproduced, among others, by the Reutets news agency.
Herasimenja helped form the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, which was deemed an extremist organization by the Belarusian judiciary.
She herself was not present during the trial and has been living in exile in Lithuania as of 2020.
Herasimenja is one of Belarus’ most prominent athletes in recent years and has won three Olympic medals (two silvers in London 2012 and bronze in Rio 2016). According to the human rights organization, she was convicted of calling for sanctions against Belarus and spreading disinformation.
The 36-year-old resigned in 2019. She is also accused of harming the kingdom’s security.
Belarus and Lukashenko, often referred to as Europe’s last dictator, are prominent supporters of Vladimir Putin and Russia in the war against Ukraine. In recent years, the Belarusian authorities have severely cracked down on opponents of the Lukashenko regime.
– Ukraine has never been our enemy, they are our brothers, Herasimenya said in the first days of the war, when she was in Kiev.
Several other critics of the regime received prison sentences in the same case.
