Maria Kolesnikova: First sighting of Belarusian political prisoner in 600 days

Maria Kolesnikova, jailed for her part in mass political protests in 2020, was allowed to see her father.

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A photo, published on social media, shows the activist in what appears to be a prison housecoat hugging her father.

On her face is the smile she became famous for as one of the leaders of a wave of giant protests in 2020 that put the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko under unprecedented pressure.

It survived by responding with mass arrests, police beatings and torture - all thoroughly documented, but still flatly denied by officials.

A peaceful protester, Maria Kolesnikova was sentenced to 11 years for extremism and supposedly plotting to overthrow the government.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg792d6yp4o

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