The day after the Belarusian anti-government protests, an opposition leader was kidnapped by a masked man in the middle of the city.

Local media reported that the opposition leader, who had led anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukasenko, was kidnapped by masked gangsters in the center of the capital. In Belarus, protests over suspected unfair elections in the presidential elections have continued for a month.

According to this report, cited by foreign media such as The Guardian, 38-year-old Maria Colesnikova, considered the only influential opponent who has not fled abroad and remains in Belarus, was walking through the streets of Minsk around 10 a.m. on the day 7 (local time). Witnesses said they were kidnapped.

A woman named Anastasia said: “I saw people dressed in civilian clothes, with masks, dragging Maria into a van.” In the process, the witness added that Colesnikova’s cell phone fell to the ground, and one of the crew members picked it up, hastily got into the van and left the scene, the witness added. His cell phone is not connected, local media said.

The identity of the gangsters and Colesnikova’s whereabouts have not been confirmed. The police denied having detained him. Another activist, Anton Rodnekov and Ivan Kravtsov, were also missing, and that the Lukaschenko regime is targeting and “ expelling ” members of the opposition.

Former flute player, Colesnikova is a person who entered politics before the Belarusian presidential elections of 2020 (August 9). In the first place, she joined the presidential side of Víctor Barbarico, a former banker who was a candidate for the opposition party.

However, just two months before the presidential election, Babarka was suddenly jailed on charges of tax evasion and his career was canceled. Then Colesnikova jumped directly to Veronica Chekalo, who participated in an election campaign in place of her husband, an opposition politician who was denied registration as a candidate, and Svetlana Tihanovskaya, who eventually became a joint candidate for the opposition party. . 37) and campaigned together.

Kolesnikova, Cekalo and Tihanovskaya, who do not have a political career in common, have emerged as symbolic faces against President Lukasenko, who has been in power for 26 years since 1994. Belarus, independent of the Soviet Union, is often referred to as the “last dictatorship of Europe”.

However, as the Lukasenko government continued to interfere and threaten the three men, the three dispersed. The day before the elections, Cekalo went to Moscow, Russia, where her husband took refuge, and Tihanovskaya fled to Lithuania, claiming that the election results had been fabricated. Colesnikova was the only one who remained in Belarus to participate in protests against the government.

The protests have raged in Belarus for a month, calling for President Lukasenko’s resignation and insisting on a negative presidential election. Police arrested hundreds of protesters, and plainclothes policemen were also seen randomly arresting people with “white-red-white” flags symbolizing the opposition party in cafes and shops in the city center. On the 6th, the day before Collesnikova’s arrest, a large-scale demonstration took place.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevichus said the Lukaschenko regime is “eliminating” members of the opposition one by one. I wrote on twitter. “Stalin’s (notorious former Soviet secret police) NKVD is being applied in 21st century Europe.”