Former WNBA star Jelena Luetjanka, 37, has been active in protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
After 15 days in prison, she now explains why she took part in the protests for a political change.
- I want us to be free in a new Belarus, where we can express our opinions without being afraid of consequences.
I want us to feel what it is like to be free in a free country where all opinions are heard, as it is now it is just an opinion that counts and if you think differently you are seen as an enemy of the state, she says to the news agency AP.
"Part of me wants to be angry"
When Luetjanka was arrested at the airport in Minsk, it was a notorious case.
She was sentenced to 15 days in jail and released in mid-October.
- Some of me want to be angry, but at the same time this is what they want, they want to break me down and others who are like me.
I understand that I should not do that, there are more important things to concentrate on and move on.
She is one of several Belarusian sports profiles who took part in the protests.
The president has invested heavily in his athletes and it has previously been unusual for them to protest against him.
- On the one hand, I could have closed my eyes to this, moved and lived comfortably.
But I can not.
It's about people living in the same country I was born in and I can not just watch.