Miss Belarus-2008 beauty pageant winner walks free after 42 days of arrest

20 DEC, 08:14

The court ruled to place her under arrest for taking part in an unauthorized mass event

MINSK, December 20. /TASS/. The winner of Miss Belarus-2008 beauty pageant and former press secretary of Dynamo Brest football club Olga Khizhinkova walked free after 42 days of her administrative arrest, Belarusian portal tut.by reported on Sunday.

"Miss Belarus-2008 and former press secretary of Dynamo Brest Khizhinkova was released in the city of Zhodzina," the report said.

Khizhinkova was detained at a rally on November 8. On November 11, the court ruled to place her under arrest for 12 days for taking part in an unauthorized mass event. Shortly after a district court in Minsk ruled that she should remain behind bars for another 15 days for taking part in the October 11 event.

On November 26, the Minsk court ruled on 15 days of arrest for Khizhinkova. According to tut.by, investigators used a photo posted on the Instagram social network and a video footage on October 25 to bring new charges.

Nationwide demonstrations have engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome and left the country. The opposition’s Coordination Council, established in the republic, calls for further protests, while the Belarusian authorities demand to stop these unauthorized demonstrations.

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