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, 8.30 p.m.:
Foreign Minister
Heiko Maas (SPD)
has
requested
clarification from Belarus about the whereabouts and the release of the
allegedly arrested opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova
and other political prisoners.
"We are very concerned about Ms. Kolesnikowa," said Maas on Monday the
picture
.
"The continued arrests and repression, also and above all against the members of the Coordination Council, are unacceptable."
The
German government is
working “at full speed” in the EU on a package of
sanctions against the government in Minsk
, 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
Maria Kolesnikowa is
not the only
opposition member
who has now
been
arrested in Belarus
:
Green leader Robert Habeck
reported on Monday that, according to his information, the former Belarusian Greens leader
Irina Sukhij was also
imprisoned .
The news came from the European Green Party, said a party spokeswoman.
It must be assumed that the
regime of Alexander Lukashenko
"
acts
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
activist
Maria Kolesnikova
(see first
report
) are leaked
: Your supporters reported, citing witnesses, that Kolesnikova was
packed
by black-clad
men
on Monday morning in the center of
Minsk
been pushed
into a
minibus
.
Your
phone
is turned off.
At the weekend, the security forces
arrested
more than
630 demonstrators
during the renewed mass protests against President
Alexander Lukashenko
.
An eyewitness told the news website
Tut.by
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
Coordination Council set up
by the opposition in Belarus
and is one of the few who decided against going into
exile
and stayed in Belarus.
According to information from the Bild newspaper, coordination council spokesman
Anton Radnenkow
and the managing secretary
Ivan Krautsow have also
been missing
since Monday
.
Lukashenko's opponent Maria Kolesnikova is missing: She is a colleague of Tichanowskaya
The
38-year-old appeared
in the election campaign together with
Weronika Zepkalo
at the side of the opposition candidate
Svetlana Tichanovskaya
.
She had previously worked as campaign manager for the candidacy of
ex-banker Viktor Babaryko
, who is now in prison.
Tichanowskaja is now in neighboring Lithuania, Zepkalo in Ukraine.
Another activist,
Olga Kowalkowa
, fled to Poland on Saturday.
Despite growing pressure from the
European Union
, Lukashenko refuses to accommodate the demonstrators.
He speaks of a
“conspiracy” by the West
and is now relying entirely on
Moscow's
support
to stay in power.
Belarus: Lukashenko opponent apparently abducted - dubious circumstances
First report from September 7th
: Minsk - After the presidential election in
Belarus (Belarus)
the country is in turmoil.
Alexander Lukashenko
, 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.
Opposition candidate Svetlana Tichanovaskaya
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
opposition politician Maria Kolesnikowa
was abducted - and that under extremely dubious circumstances.
According to this, Kolesnikowa was arrested in the Belarusian
capital Minsk
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
opposition activists
in
Belarus
who oppose the controversial
head of state Lukashenko
.
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
ex-bank chief Viktor Babariko
, who wanted to run for president.
She is also on the Presidium of the Coordination Council, which seeks a peaceful change of power.
Kolesnikowa
had
lived
in
Stuttgart
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
presidential election
more than four weeks ago.
Lukashenko
had then declared himself the winner with 80.1 percent of the vote.
The opposition, however, considers
Tichanovskaya
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.
(nai / dpa)
List of rubric lists: © AP / dpa