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Belarusian presidential election 2020
Image copyright pyriteReuters
The jailed Belarusian opposition leader said she feared for her life when security officials threw a bag over her head during an attempt to deport her.
Through her lawyer, Maria Kolesnikova said she was forcibly put in the van and said she would be put “alive or in bits” if she did not leave voluntarily.
Her lawyer said she was now seeking a criminal case against Belarusian security forces, including the KGB.
Belarus has been rocked by unrest since last month’s disputed election.
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What is happening in Belarus?
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Ms. Kolesnikova is one of three women who joined forces to challenge President Alexander Lukashenko in the August election. She is the last of three women to stay inside Belarus after resisting attempts to forcibly deport her to Ukraine earlier this week.
The main opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanavskaya, says she won the election by -0-70% where the votes were counted correctly. She fled to Lithuania after being detained in August.
What did Kolesnikova say?
In a statement filed by his lawyer, he said he was pushed into a van by masked men in the capital, Minsk, on Monday.
“It was stated that if I did not leave the Republic of Belarus voluntarily, I would be executed, either alive or out of the Bits. I was also threatened with imprisonment for 25 years.”
His client said his client was in “good spirits”.
What’s the latest from Lukashenko?
During the inauguration of the new chief prosecutor on Thursday, the president maintained his legitimacy as a leader.
Image copyright pyriteGetty Images“People often criticize me: ‘He will not give up power.’ They have given me the right to reprimand me. People have not chosen me for this, “he said.
“Power is not taken, thrown away and given.”
The president, who has been in power since 1994, said Belarus could not return to the years of instability following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Poland, Matthews Moravievsky, has offered Ms. Tikhanovskaya a house in the capital, Versailles.
