Olga Khizhinkova, the winner of the Miss Belarus 2008 beauty pageant and former spokesperson for the FC Dynamo Brest professional soccer club, has been released from arrest, Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation (BSSF) said in a statement on Facebook on Dec. 20.
“In total, Olga Khizhinkova has served 42 days of arrest,” BSSF said.
Khizhinkova was detained during a public protest in Minsk on Nov. 8. “On November 11, a court gave her 12 days of arrest. Afterward, there were another two trials, and Khizhinkova was sentenced to 15 days of arrest each time,” it said.
Since Aug. 9, Belarus has seen continuous protests against the official results of the presidential election. The authorities declared the incumbent head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994, the winner. The opposition has refused to accept the election results, which they believe were rigged. The protesters demand that Lukashenko step down, political prisoners are released, and a new election be held. Over the past few weeks, fewer people have attended the opposition’s public actions in Minsk, which moved from central streets and squares to residential areas in sleeper neighborhoods in view of mass arrests and the harsh crackdown on protesters by Belarusian security forces.
