Nina Bahinskaya, 73, poses for a photo holding a flag that became the symbole of the opposition at an entrance of her apartment building in Minsk, Belarus (Image: AP)
TALLINN: Authorities in Belarus have opened a criminal case against the 78-year-old activist who became the face of the country’s pro-democracy protests in 2020. Retired geologist Nina Bahinskaya was charged with repeatedly violating Belarus’ laws on holding and organizing protests, Belarus’ Viasna human rights center said Tuesday. Authorities accused Bahinskaya of repeatedly walking the streets of the Belarusian capital displaying symbols striped with white, red and white: the same colors used by Belarus’ pro-democracy opposition. If found guilty, the activist faces up to three years in prison. Bahinskaya is one of the most recognizable faces of Belarus’ pro-democracy movement, which reached its peak during mass protests in the summer of 2020, shortly after the country’s authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, was declared president for a sixth consecutive term. Observers widely condemned the vote as rigged. In March, Lukashenko was sworn in to a seventh term. Bahinskaya’s defiance and caustic tongue quickly has made her a popular opposition figure. When told by police in 2020 that she was violating a government ban on unauthorized demonstrations, she simply responded, “I’m taking a walk” – a snappy reply that was adopted by thousands and chanted at demonstrations. “I noticed that the riot police more rarely beat protesters when they see elderly people among them,” she told The Associated Press at the time.
“So I come out to protest as a defender, an observer and a witness. I’m psychologically and intellectually stronger than t
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