Former Miss Belarus Olga Khizhinkova was finally released after 42 days in prison for protesting her country's government. She was locked up for taking part in the 'unauthorized' protests and rallies across Belarus against its president Alexander Lukashenko.

Khizhinkova, in a local interview, said that she slept on the floor in the prison with no heating and she had to wrap herself in her clothes for warmth. However, she has not thought about leaving the country and wants to live and work there.

Khizhinkova won the Miss Belarus 2008 beauty pageant and has been open in her criticism of the country's leader. While the beauty queen was sharing photos from various protests in the capital city of Minsk on her Instagram, she was arrested on 8th November and sentenced to 12 days in prison. Her original sentence was extended twice after there was evidence of her being two other anti-government protests.

Belarus has been a witness to countrywide protests after the incumbent president Lukashenko won the elections on 9th August 2020. The opposition says that the elections were rigged, in which Lukashenko won 80.1 per cent of votes. The leading opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, won only 10.12 per cent of the votes.

The protestors have since been demonstrating against the alleged rigging in elections and demanding that the president resigns from his post.