Nina Baginskaya, 78, became a symbol of the 2020 protests. Photos of her holding the national flag were published in many foreign media outlets.
She went to her first protest in 1988 in Kurapaty near Minsk, where there are mass graves of Belarusian victims of the Stalin regime. Later, Baginskaya took part in opposition actions held in memory of the Chernobyl disaster, the disappearance of opposition politicians, and in protest against the annexation of Crimea. She was detained and fined many times. "I need to live 120 years to pay them all off," Nina said in an interview. Since 2016, 20% of Baginskaya's pension has been deducted to pay fines, and since 2017, 50%. In 2016, bailiffs confiscated the pensioner's microwave and washing machine. A few years later, the state seized and put her two summer houses up for sale.
Baginskaya explains her activity by a sense of duty to her descendants.
In 2025, the basis of the charges in the criminal case against Baginskaya was administrative protocols and court decisions from 2024.
Nina Baginskaya has a number of serious illnesses and needs timely medical treatment. In prison conditions, her life could be in serious danger.
Nina was found guilty of "repeated violations of the law on holding mass events," but instead of punishment she was given "preventive observation."
