Belarus sentences a former athlete and an activist to 12 years in prison for "harming national security"

MADRID, 27 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

A Belarusian court has sentenced former Olympic swimmer Aliaxandra Herasimenia and political activist Alexander Opeykin to 12 years in prison on Monday after being found guilty of allegedly committing actions aimed at causing harm to national security.

Specifically, the Minsk City Court has sentenced them for creating the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund association and "deliberately spreading false information" through the media and the Internet about the events they had during the electoral campaign for the elections in 2020, as collected by the state agency BelTA.

"They have been found guilty of making public calls to commit actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of Belarus, including the use of restrictive measures (sanctions) against Belarus, natural and legal persons of the republic", wields the text of the sentence. .

Aliaxandra Herasimenia, a three-time Olympic medalist during the London Olympic Games (2012) and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games (2016), must serve her sentence in a general prison. Meanwhile, Opeykin must enter a prison with a reinforced regime, as detailed by the aforementioned agency.

This sentence comes more than a year after the Belarusian Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya denounced at the Japan Olympic Games that the authorities of her country were forcing her to leave the Japanese country against her will.

The 200-meter runner had previously been vocal in her criticism of the Belarusian committee, which is led by the son of the country's president, for forcing her to run in a relay event on short notice. The Belarusian Olympic team later announced that they had withdrawn her from the competition due to her "emotional and psychological state".