Opposition activist Kovalkova forced to leave Belarus

Belarusian opposition activist Olga Kovalkova has arrived in the Polish capital Warsaw saying she had been forced by authorities in her homeland to leave the country.

Kovalkova, a senior figure in the Belarusian opposition Coordination Council, was sentenced to 10 days in jail on August 25.

She said on Saturday that authorities had told her she would face further arrests if she did not leave the country.

"Representatives of the militia and the interior ministry of Belarus came to me and said that if I did not agree to leave, I would face long arrests ... it was said that there would be more (arrests) to infinity," she told a news conference in Warsaw.

"They came to the remand centre where I was isolated, they gave me a hat, a mask and took me out of prison, I was lying in the back seat, so as not to see anything."

She said she was taken to the border, where she entered Poland at the Kuznica-Bruzgi border crossing before travelling to Warsaw.

Kovalkova's arrived in Poland on the same day that Polish authorities confirmed Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will visit Warsaw on Wednesday, where she will meet Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

"All these activities will not stop me, I will continue to act politically and I intend to return to Belarus to continue my activities," Kovalkova said.

READ MORE: Belarusian opposition leader won't run for presidency if new vote held

Protests continue

Thousands of women marched through the capital of Belarus on Saturday, calling for the resignation of the president, and university students demonstrated against the detention of classmates during the wave of protests gripping the country for four weeks.

About 5,000 women took part in the march, according to the human rights organisation Viasna. Police followed the march, but no detentions were reported.

Marches and demonstrations by women have become a frequent feature of protests, which broke out August 9 after the election in which Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, was officially tallied with an 80 percent landslide victory.

Lukashenko has denied accusations by the opposition and Western countries that the vote was rigged and has resisted demands to step down.

Human rights experts from the United Nations have reported receiving reports of hundreds of cases of torture, beatings and mistreatment of Belarusian protesters by police.

READ MORE: Belarusian police detain dozens of people to disperse protests in Minsk