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The Guardian reported on the 7th (local time) that the opposition representative was kidnapped in Belarus, where protests against the presidential elections have been taking place for more than a month. Belarusian President Alexander Lukasenko has been in power for 26 years since 1994. In the presidential election held on 9 last month, more than 80% of the votes were cast, but protests continue, saying it was a fabricated result. .
The Guardian reported that Maria Colesnikova, who heads the Belarusian opposition party, was seen being caught by a masked man on the side of the road in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, around 10 am on the 7th. The place where the incident occurred It is near the National Museum of Art in Minsk. The man said he escaped with Colesnikova in a minivan.
Colesnikova is considered the leader of the Belarusian opposition party along with Svetlana Tihanovskaya, who ran for the presidential elections. Tihanovskaya is in exile in Lithuania after declaring her objection to the presidential election. As Tihanovskaya continued in Lithuania, Kolesnikova became one of the most influential figures in Belarus.
A woman who witnessed the incident told local media: “A black minivan marked ‘Vyaz’ stopped near the museum, and people wearing masks got out and put Maria in the van.” When I dropped the phone, one of the crew members took it and got into the van. “Colesnikova does not answer the phone, local media reported.
It is still unknown who kidnapped Colesnikova. Her media response team also lost contact. His media response team said: “It is true that he was kidnapped,” The Guardian reported. Anton Rodnenkov, Ivan Kraftov and Maxim Bogrechev, who had been with him at parliamentary activities, also disappeared.
Minsk police officers said they were not detained in Kolesnikova.
In Belarus, protests against the presidential elections are growing. On the eve of Sunday, 100,000 protesters gathered near the Presidential Palace to demand the resignation of President Lukasenko.
