Belarus: Kolesnikova dragged into bus by masked men? EU calls for "immediate" response - and gives a shocking number

Another opponent of the ruler Alexander Lukashenko has apparently been kidnapped in Belarus.

The circumstances are extremely dubious.

• Belarus

  remains unstable

  after the controversial election of ruler

  Alexander Lukashenko

  .

• “Europe's last dictator”

  dramatically increased

  the military presence in the

  capital Minsk

  .

  Demonstrators are being arrested again and again.

• Opposition politician Maria Kolesnikowa was

  allegedly

  abducted on

  Monday

  in an extremely dubious manner.

Update from September 7th, 10.45 p.m.:

According

to Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell, the

calling for the immediate release of opposition members arrested in Belarus.

The EU has condemned the arbitrary arrests since the election in Belarus, said Borrell in Brussels on Monday evening.

Among other

,

he named the

, who disappeared on Monday.

The Civil Society Coordination Council in Belarus believes that the 38-year-old was kidnapped.

Borrell pointed out that a total of

after a peaceful march on Sunday.

Strongly condemn the unabating arbitrary & unexplained arrests & detentions on political grounds in #Belarus.

Expect the immediate release of those unlawfully detained & protection of civil society / actors involved in discussions on the future of Belarus.https: //t.co/58Q3Swcggm

- European External Action Service - EEAS 🇪🇺 (@eu_eeas) September 7, 2020

Lukashenko: activist Kolesnikowa disappeared - Maas makes clear demands

Update from September 7th, 8.30 p.m.:

Foreign Minister

has

requested

clarification from Belarus about the whereabouts and the release of the

and other political prisoners.

"We are very concerned about Ms. Kolesnikowa," said Maas on Monday the

.

"The continued arrests and repression, also and above all against the members of the Coordination Council, are unacceptable."

The

working “at full speed” in the EU on a package of

, added the Foreign Minister.

“We have repeatedly asked Mr. Lukashenko to enter into a dialogue with all national forces.

That did not happen, on the contrary: One wave of repression after another is rolling towards the opposition willing to enter into dialogue.

That is the wrong direction. ”If Lukashenko did not change course, the EU would react.

Belarus: worries about Lukashenko's opponent Kolesnikova - apparently another politician also arrested

Update from September 7th, 6:00 p.m.:

Apparently

not the only

who has now

been

:

reported on Monday that, according to his information, the former Belarusian Greens leader

imprisoned .

The news came from the European Green Party, said a party spokeswoman.

It must be assumed that the

"

with brutal severity against the demonstrators," said Habeck.

"The many words of solidarity must now be backed up with action."

Kolesnikova misses: Masked men are said to have dragged Lukashenko's opponent into a minibus

Update from September 7th, 1:42 p.m.: Little by little,

new details about the disappearance of the Belarusian opposition

report

: Your supporters reported, citing witnesses, that Kolesnikova was

packed

by black-clad

on Monday morning in the center of

been pushed

into a

.

Your

is turned off.

At the weekend, the security forces

arrested

more than

during the renewed mass protests against President

.

An eyewitness told the news website

how masked men pushed Kolesnikova into the vehicle around 10:00 a.m. local time and took off her cell phone.

The police in Minsk did not initially comment on the reports.

Мария Колесникова похищена в центре Минска неизвестными.https: //t.co/iP93RO8JoP pic.twitter.com/w9kJgwoLHm

- TUT.BY (@tutby) September 7, 2020

Kolesnikova is a member of the

by the opposition in Belarus

and is one of the few who decided against going into

and stayed in Belarus.

According to information from the Bild newspaper, coordination council spokesman

and the managing secretary

been missing

since Monday

.

Lukashenko's opponent Maria Kolesnikova is missing: She is a colleague of Tichanowskaya

The

in the election campaign together with

at the side of the opposition candidate

.

She had previously worked as campaign manager for the candidacy of

, who is now in prison.

Tichanowskaja is now in neighboring Lithuania, Zepkalo in Ukraine.

Another activist,

, fled to Poland on Saturday.

Despite growing pressure from the

, Lukashenko refuses to accommodate the demonstrators.

He speaks of a

and is now relying entirely on

support

to stay in power.

Belarus: Lukashenko opponent apparently abducted - dubious circumstances

First report from September 7th

: Minsk - After the presidential election in

the country is in turmoil.

, who is regarded as “Europe's last dictator”, not only claimed the election victory for himself - he is also using increasing violence against the demonstrators.

The reason for the unrest are serious allegations against the ruler.

The election is said to have been massively falsified.

Government critics were systematically persecuted and arrested even before the election.

 fled to Lithuania after the election on the urgent advice of her advisors.

Now the news platform RIA reports, according to several media reports, that apparently another Lukashenko opponent was less lucky.

The

was abducted - and that under extremely dubious circumstances.

According to this, Kolesnikowa was arrested in the Belarusian

by previously unidentified people

.

It is assumed that the opposition politician will be arrested.

For the time being nothing more was known about Kolesnikova's disappearance.

The 38-year-old is one of the most important

in

who oppose the controversial

.

Some colleagues on the panel had previously been arrested, left the country or forced to leave the country.

Belarus (Belarus): Belarus: Lukashenko's opponent Maria Kolesnikova apparently abducted

Kolesnikova works for

, who wanted to run for president.

She is also on the Presidium of the Coordination Council, which seeks a peaceful change of power.

had

lived

in

for

many years

and managed cultural projects from there.

Kolesnikova appeared repeatedly in protests and was cheered by the demonstrators.

She marched with the large demonstration on Sunday in Minsk.

+

Maria Kolesnikowa is an opposition politician in Belarus.

(Archive image)

© Ulf Mauder / dpa

The background to the protests is the

more than four weeks ago.

had then declared himself the winner with 80.1 percent of the vote.

The opposition, however, considers

to be the real winner.

The vote is criticized internationally as grossly falsified.

Despite the serious allegations against the ruler, he has so far faced few international consequences.

List of rubric lists: © AP / dpa