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Ola Wallin, editor of Svetlana Aleksijevitj’s Swedish publishing house Ersatz, tells DN that on Wednesday they received information that the author was in danger of being arrested. The alarm occurred in a telephone conversation between Aleksijevich and his Swedish translator Kajsa Öberg Lindsten.
– During the conversation, Svetlana Alexievitch said that men with black masks tried to enter the apartment, says Ola Wallin.
The author must, however has not been arrested. Christina Johannesson, ambassador of the Swedish embassy in Minsk, confirms this to DN.
– She is accompanied, among others, by our second husband and some other ambassadors. She just told reporters outside the door that she has no intention of leaving the country, says Christina Johannesson shortly before 12 o’clock.
Through the Swedish embassy, DN has read a photo taken at Aleksijevich’s home on Wednesday. It shows the author himself and Konrad Rikardson, First Secretary of the Swedish Embassy in Minsk, and the Austrian Ambassador Aloisia Wörgetter.
On Wednesday, a car from the Swedish embassy was seen standing outside the door of the house in Minsk. According to DN’s information, in addition to the Swedish and Austrian diplomats, a diplomat from the Romanian embassy must also be with the author to protect her from arrest.
According to information from Ola Wallin in Ersatz, Svetlana Alexievitch has also urged the public to go to the house where she lives, but to be careful and come in large groups because there are black picket buses in the yard.
Translator Kajsa Öberg Lindsten tells DN on Wednesday about the phone call where the author’s alarm sounded:
– She answered in a low voice. She said she couldn’t talk much, that there were people wearing black and masks outside the house, and cars or buses without license plates in the street, says Kajsa Öberg Lindsten.
Kajsa Öberg Lindsten has also contacted Svetlana Alexievitch on the phone on earlier occasions during the week. According to the translator, concern has increased since, among others, opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova was arrested.
On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency reported on the information that opposition politician Maxim Znak had been kidnapped.
In that Other detained or abandoned members of the country, Alexeyevich is currently one of the last remaining members of the Coordination Council formed by the opposition in Belarus.
The council was formed with the goal of paving the way for a peaceful change of power after the highly questionable presidential elections in early August.
– On Monday, when Svetlana Alexievitch called me, she told me that “I’m the only one left.” She told me that there are people near the house who are watching. She said she could not comment because a legal process is underway, says Kajsa –Öberg Lindsten.
On Wednesday, the author also released a longer statement, ending with the words: “To my own people I want to say that I love him. I am proud of that. And now the strangers ring the bell again … “
The text is updated.
Read more:
Read Svetlana Alexievitch’s statement in its entirety
This is what happened when Maria Kalesnikava was kidnapped
Anna-Lena Laurén: Lukashenko has launched a purge operation
