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The circumstances surrounding the arrest of Maria Kolesnikova remain controversial. Two of her employees now stated that she should have been deported, but prevented it by tearing up her passport.
By Stephan Laack, WDR
The protesters shouted: “Maria, you are a hero!” They applauded demonstratively and held up signs that read: “We are Maria.” Many showed the sign of victory. Hundreds of people participated that night in Minsk in the solitary march of the Belarusian opposition Maria Kolesnikova. Also Nadezhda, for whom it was a matter of the heart to be there: “I have come to support Maria Kolesnikova and all the political prisoners. I hope they will all be released soon and that we win. I hope everything goes well with her. There is order and our protests. they bring success, we win and our hopes come true. “
But again there were many arrests, some of them brutal. Belarusian security forces, often in disguise, this time also cracked down on women. In the center of Minsk, numerous personnel carriers could be seen without license plates.
Kolesnikova employees report their arrest
Around the same time, two Kolesnikova employees gave a press conference in Kiev. They were also abducted in Minsk on Monday and described how the 38-year-old woman should be forcibly deported to Ukraine against her will. Immediately at the border, they were put into a car that was supposed to take them to Ukraine. Kolesnikova tried to resist, initially without success, as Anton Rodnenkow, press secretary of the Coordination Council of Belarus, describes:
“The rear doors of the car were locked and she couldn’t get out of the car. She screamed that there was nowhere to go. When she got in the car and saw her passport in front of her, she tore it into many small pieces. They crumpled it and threw it out the window. to the unknown guys surrounding the car. Then he left the car out the window and headed towards the border with Belarus. ”
There she was later arrested. As heard from the people around her, she is trapped in a border protection station in southern Belarus. Her two employees headed to Ukraine fearing arrest as well.
Impressed by Kolesnikova’s willpower
Ivan Kravtsov had also followed Kolesnikova’s deportation attempt on the spot.
“What interested the officials was the possibility of taking Maria abroad. They said it was necessary because they believed that the situation in the country could de-escalate. One of the suggested options was that the three of us with my private car should cross the border “.
They were both very impressed by Kolesnikova’s willpower. Rodnenkow added that he couldn’t do things like her. That is why she is the leader and he is the press spokesperson.
