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Prominent Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova ripped up her passport to thwart an try to deport her to neighbouring Ukraine, the Interfax Ukraine information company reported on Tuesday.
Deputy Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko mentioned on Facebook that Kolesnikova, who had been lacking for the previous 24 hours, had efficiently prevented “a forcible expulsion from her native country”.
The destiny of Kolesnikova, a key determine in weeks of mass protests over the disputed re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, had been a thriller since supporters mentioned she was snatched on the street by masked males within the capital Minsk on Monday.
“Maria Kolesnikova was not able to be deported from Belarus as this brave woman took steps to prevent her(self) from (being) moving across the border. She remained on the territory of the republic of Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko is personally responsible for her life and health,” Gerashchenko mentioned.
Interfax Ukraine quoted a supply as saying that Kolesnikova had torn up her passport in order that Ukrainian border officers could be unable to let her cross.
Kolesnikova’s present whereabouts have been unclear. Two different opposition figures who had gone lacking across the identical time as her did, nevertheless, enter Ukraine within the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Ukrainian border service mentioned.
“Kolesnikova has now been detained, I can’t say concretely where she is, but she has been detained,” Anton Bychkovsky, a consultant of the Belarusian border service, informed Reuters by telephone.
“She was detained in connection with the circumstances under which they (the group) left the territory of Belarus,” he mentioned.
Several distinguished opposition leaders have been arrested or compelled to flee Belarus since final month’s election after Lukashenko launched a crackdown by the safety forces to keep his 26-year grip on energy within the former Soviet republic.
Kolesnikova, a member of the opposition coordination council, was the final of three feminine politicians left in Belarus who joined forces earlier than the Aug. 9 election to strive to problem him.
A vocal critic of Lukashenko, she has performed an vital function in weeks of mass demonstrations and strikes by protesters who accuse Lukashenko of rigging his re-election.
Lukashenko, who enjoys Russia’s assist, denies that allegation and has accused overseas powers of making an attempt to topple him in a revolution. He has responded with a crackdown which some these detained say consists of torture and beatings.
Kolesnikova, in an interview with Reuters final month, referred to as on the West not to recognise him as president and mentioned his rule was crumbling.
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova, Vladimir Soldatkin and Alexander Marrow in Moscow and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; writing by Mark Trevelyan and Matthias Williams; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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