4 yıl önce

Belarus opposition figure detained for refusing to be forced out of country

France criticises Belarus for forcing opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko into exile, as opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova refuses to be pushed into Ukraine.

AP

Police officers detain protesters during a rally in support of Maria Kolesnikova, who was detained with two other council members, in Minsk, Belarus. September 8, 2020.

Leading Belarusian opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova is being held at the country's border with Ukraine after she resisted authorities' attempt to force her out of the country.

Kolesnikova was detained Monday in the capital, Minsk, along with two other members of the Coordination Council.

The three individuals were driven to the Ukrainian border, where authorities forced them to cross into Ukraine.

Kolesnikova refused and remained on the Belarusian side of the border in custody of Belarusian authorities.

The two other council members, Ivan Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov, crossed into Ukraine.

Kolesnikova was detained on Monday in the capital, Minsk, along with the two other members of the Coordination Council.

The three individuals were driven to the Ukrainian border, where authorities tried to force them to cross into Ukraine.

Kravtsov and Rodnenkov ended up crossing the border into Ukraine.

The Coordination Council was created by the Belarus opposition to facilitate talks with longtime leader President Alexander Lukashenko on a transition of power.

Witnesses said unidentified men had seized Kolesnikova and drove her away in a minibus marked "Communications."

"Forcing into exile"

France has slammed Belarus for forcing opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko into exile as part of a crackdown on protests against his August re-election, which critics say was rigged.

"France strongly condemns the arbitrary arrests and practice of forcing into exile several members of the (opposition) Coordination Council, as well as numerous demonstrators in recent days," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said "full light must be shed" on the case of Kolesnikova, with some reports suggesting that she was arrested after resisting a forced deportation into neighbouring Ukraine.

Torn up passport?

Meanwhile, there are reports that Kolesnikova tore up her passport at the border with Ukraine and threw the pieces away to foil an attempt by Belarusian authorities to make her cross into Ukraine, according to her associate Radnenkov.

Radnenkov told reporters in Kyiv that he, Kravtsov and Kolesnikova had been taken to the border in the early hours of Tuesday by men in plain clothes, but that Kolesnikova did not cross.

Kravtsov said they did not know Kolesnikova's current whereabouts, but that he thought she could be in the custody of the Belarusian KGB security service.

Pressure tactics from authorities

The Belarusian authorities have applied similar tactics to other opposition figures, seeking to end a month of demonstrations against the re-election of Lukashenko in a vote the protesters see as rigged.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger to Lukashenko, left for Lithuania a day after the August 9 vote, under pressure from the authorities.

On Saturday, a top associate of Tsikhanouskaya, Olga Kovalkova , moved to Poland after the authorities threatened to keep her in jail for a long time if she refused to leave the country.

Belarusian prosecutors have opened a criminal probe against members of the Coordination Council that opposition activists set up after the election to try to negotiate a transition of power.

Several council members were arrested and some others called for questioning.

Forming a new political party

Last week, Kolesnikova announced the creation of a new party, Together.

She said the move will help overcome the current crisis, but the party founders’ call for constitutional changes has stunned some other opposition council members, who argued that it could divert attention from the main goal of getting Lukashenko to step down.

"The country is in a political and socio-economic crisis, and together we know, how to exit this crisis... Very soon we will hand in the paperwork needed for registration," Kolesnikova said in the video.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies