(Moscow) An Olympic medalist, Aliaksandra Herasimenia, has been sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison in Belarus for “creating an extremist formation”, the rights organization Viasna announced on Monday.
Herasimenia, 36, silver and bronze medalist at the Olympic Games (2012, 2016), was found guilty by a court in Minsk, according to a press release published on the Viasna website, which specified that the trial began on 19 December.
According to the NGO, the former swimmer, who retired from sport in 2019 and lives in exile, had also been found guilty of “calls for sanctions against Belarus” and “spreading false information about the events” in the country in 2020.
That year, during an unprecedented protest movement against the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, Mme Herasimenia had signed an open letter, alongside other Belarusian athletes, calling for “free elections”.
She had created in the process the Belarusian Foundation for Sports Solidarity (BSSF), an organization which provides financial and legal aid to Belarusian sportsmen targeted by the authorities.
This is recognized by the Belarusian authorities as an “extremist formation”.
In April 2021, she auctioned off her gold medal won at the 2012 World Championships for 13,500 euros to raise funds in support of opposition athletes.
In addition, a union representative, Alexander Yarochouk, was sentenced on Monday to four years in prison for having “seriously undermined public order” in 2020, Viasna announced in another press release.
For more than two years, the Belarusian authorities have been carrying out tireless repression. Almost all opposition figures have been imprisoned or driven into exile.