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Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova has been kidnapped. An eyewitness reports dramatic scenes in the middle of Minsk.
Adversary of the dictator Alexander Lukashenko: Maria Kolesnikowa.
Photo: Keystone
Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova was apparently arrested on Monday. Although one can hardly speak of an arrest if one summarizes what was learned in the afternoon: an eyewitness reported how masked men in civilian clothes dragged the 38-year-old man to a bus. Her comrades in arms can no longer reach her and cannot find out where the missing woman is. Meanwhile, the Belarusian Interior Ministry said it knew nothing of an arrest.
“At the moment there is no information on where Maria is. Lawyers are looking for her, “Kolesnikowa spokesman German Gleb said by phone. Kolesnikova is not the only member of the opposition Coordination Council to have disappeared. There is also no sign of Anton Rodnenkow, the council spokesman, or of Ivan Kravzov, the secretary of the council.
With the coordinating council, the opposition wants to achieve a peaceful transfer of power and new elections. The August 9 election, in which the ruler Alexander Lukashenko claims to have won more than 80 percent of the vote, was obviously rigged.
Tichanovskaya reports from exile
Since then, several members of the opposition have had to leave Belarus under pressure. Swetlana Tichanowskaja, whom many consider the real winner of the elections, reported from his exile in Vilnius: “The Lukashenko regime is involved in terror, there is no other name for it,” he said. “The kidnapping of Maria Kolesnikowa, Anton Rodnenkow and Ivan Kravtsov is an attempt to disrupt the work of the Coordination Council.” You wouldn’t let that stop you. “The more you intimidate, the more people will take to the streets.”
Kolesnikova had supported Tichanowskaya in the election campaign. She was the only campaign leader still in Belarus and at large after the vote until she disappeared. The Russian news agency Interfax quoted a representative from the Belarusian Interior Ministry as saying there was no information about the alleged arrests.
“Lukashenko’s regime is involved in terror”: Presidential candidate Svetlana Tichanowskaya, who is in Vilnius.
Photo: Reuters
The Belarusian Tut.by news site an eyewitness reported on Kolesnikova’s arrest: he saw the opposition around ten o’clock near the national art museum in Minsk. He thought about talking to Kolesnikova, but then decided to shape a heart with his hands alone from a distance – the hallmark of Kolesnikowa.
“I saw a dark van parked not far from the museum,” the witness said. He continued and suddenly heard a noise, “like a phone falling on asphalt.” And also: “I turned around and saw that men in civilian clothes and masks Maria Kolesnikova got into this minibus and her phone fell to the ground.” One of the masked people picked up the phone, got on the bus and left.
More than 630 arrests on Sunday alone
Since Election Day there have been demonstrations against almost every day Ruler Lukashenko. Last weekend, tens of thousands took to the streets in Minsk and other cities. While the mood of protest against him has not faded, the pressure on the opposition and protesters is increasing. According to authorities, 633 people were arrested on Sunday alone.
Investigations against the opposing coordinating council have long been under way. Its leading members had to appear before the inquiry committee for questioning, including Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich.
Olga Kowalkowa, a council member and confidant of Tichanowskaja, was forced to leave for Poland a few days ago. They had arrested her three weeks ago and then said she had been given a choice: exile or prison. On the council’s website, she describes how the secret service brought her to the Polish border. Tichanovskaya addressed the United Nations on Friday, asking them to send international observers to Belarus to document the police violence.
