Minsk
At 73, Nina Baginskaya is one of Belarus’s most prominent veteran activists, facing regular detention by police as she marches in support of the opposition.
The small, sprightly great-grandmother is frequently at the frontline of anti-government protests and altercations with masked riot police who tower over her.
On Sunday, police detained her as she took part in a “Shiny March” where women protested in sparkling accessories, demanding an end to President Alexander Lukashenko’s 26-year rule.
They took away the flag and bunch of flowers she was carrying and pushed her into a van as the petite activist with cropped grey hair and glasses shouted angrily. She was released shortly afterwards.
Since huge protests broke out in Belarus over Lukashenko’s disputed re-election last month, Baginskaya has resisted arrest, sparred with riot police and stood in front of a police van to block its path.
Parading through the streets of the capital Minsk carrying the opposition’s white-and-red flag, Baginskaya has become one of the protest movement’s most famous symbols.
“I couldn’t not go,” she told Nasha Niva newspaper shortly before her detention on Sunday.
“How could I just sit there? How could I sleep easily?” In August, a video of the activist pushing past two masked riot policemen with a flag in her hand went viral on social media.
“I am going for a walk,” she defiantly told two policemen towering over her.—AP
