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Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova was arrested on the border with Ukraine while trying to leave Belarus illegallyThe Belta agency, the official agency of that former Soviet republic, reported on Tuesday. “Maria Kolesnikova tried to illegally leave the territory of the Republic of Belarus, but was arrested at the border,” he said.
Comrades from the opposition reported that Kolsnikova was abducted in central Minsk Monday. by several masked men who put her in a van and took her to an unknown destination. The Belarusian Borders Committee (CFB) reported, in turn, that Kolesnikova, together with two other members of the Coordination Council for the peaceful transfer of power, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, passed control of Alexandrovka on the border between Ukraine and Belarus.
“After passing through customs and border control, the car advanced towards Ukraine and, when encountering a patrol of border guards, accelerated the march, with danger of life for a military officer of the Belarusian border guard,” said the spokesman. from the CFB, Anton Bychkovski.
Most likely arresting Kolesnikova is a trap, “a source from the Opposition Coordination Council told the Russian agency Interfax.
The same source noted that neither Rodnenkov, Kravtsov, nor Kolesnikova plan to leave the country.
Kidnapped, taken or detained? What is known about the disappearance of the Belarusian opponent (and two others)
Kolesnikova, member of the Coordination Council for the peaceful transfer of power in Belarus, is one of the main figures of the Belarusian opposition in the country and one of the few who chose not to go into exile abroad.
Maria Kolesnikova, professional music, she is the only one of the three women who faced the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, in the ongoing presidential campaign in Minsk, as the opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, and Veronika Tsepkalo went into exile after the August 9 elections.
Belarus has been the scene of several demonstrations since August 9, when Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth presidential term.
In the first days of the protests, the police detained some 7,000 people and brutally repressed hundreds, prompting international protests and the threat of sanctions.
The United States, the European Union and several neighboring Belarus countries rejected Lukashenko’s recent electoral victory and condemned the police crackdown, urging Minsk to enter into a dialogue with the opposition.
