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In the statement released today by Belarusian state television, it was announced that Maria Kolesnikova, one of the important opposition figures in the country, was arrested on the border between Ukraine and Belarus.
“The disappearance of the candidates reveals the ferocity of the regime before their eyes”
Speaking to CNN, Tom Tugendhat, head of the UK Foreign Affairs Selection Committee, said: “The disappearance of the candidates certainly shows the brutality of this regime and how important it is for the international community not to lose interest in the horrible events that have occurred since the elections. “
Kolesnikova had joined forces with opposition candidates Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Veronika Tsepkalo, reacting to Lukashenko after large numbers of opposition candidates were banned from running or were imprisoned, gaining public support.
While Tikhanovskaya and Tsepkalo left Belarus immediately after the elections, Kolesnikova remained in the country and opposed the result. In an interview with CNN on August 13, she told Lukashenko that “the Belarusian people do not like her and she must admit that they do not like her to remain president of Belarus.”
MARIA KOLESNIKOVA TAKEN AT THE BORDER
Kolesnikova’s friends said that she disappeared yesterday in the center of Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Two colleagues from the country’s main opposition group, the Coordination Council, also disappeared shortly after.
Oleg Bokyo, press officer of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said Kolesnikova “did not go to the Ukrainian checkpoint for border control.”
Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour from her exile in Lithuania on Monday, Tikhanovskaya, the main opposition presidential candidate, said: “Right now, the members of the Coordinated Council that I have formed are being persecuted, kidnapped and harassed. And that’s it. I am very concerned because we still do not do it now. Maria Kolesnikova “. “I do not know where it is”.
Then it was announced today that Koleshnikova was arrested.
SVETLANA TİKHANOVSKAYA LİTAVANYA’DA SÜRGÜNDE
Tikhanovskaya, the main opposition candidate for the controversial August presidential elections, left the country days after security forces showed great pressure on protesters. Tikhanovskaya is currently in exile with her children in neighboring Lithuania.
Tikhanovskaya publicly questioned the election result and demanded a recount after the Central Election Commission announced that it got only 9.9 percent of the vote: “We do not recognize the election results. We saw actual protocols. We urge those who they believe their voices have been stolen from not keeping silent. “
VERONICA TSEPKALO: THE POSSIBILITY OF ARREST IS VERY HIGH
Tsepkalo, who advised Tikhanovskaya, one of the opposition candidates, was said to have gone to Russia with her children for security reasons.
The family is now in exile in Poland. “The only legitimate president is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Our main goal is to send Lukashenko. I want to go back to Belarus, but my chances of going to jail are very high,” Tsepkalo told Reuters on August 19.
