Nobel laureate in literature and one of the last figures of the opposition in freedom and in Belarus, Svetlana Alexievich, left her country to seek treatment in Germany, one of her relatives announced on Monday.
“
In a month, she will return to Belarus.
She is not giving up her activities as a member of the coordination council
, ”the body formed by the opposition, her friend Maria Voïtechonok told AFP.
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Two months ago she was supposed to go to the doctor, but this was prevented by the coronavirus and political events
,” she added, stressing that Svetlana Alexievich intends to go to Italy after Germany.
To read also: Svetlana Alexievitch, Nobel Prize for Literature: "I am not a heroine"
Svetlana Alexievich is the only one of the seven members of the leadership of the Coordination Council formed to promote a transition of power in Belarus still at large.
All the others were either arrested or forced into exile, as was the leading figure of the protest movement, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, who took refuge in Lithuania.
Svetlana Alexievitch, 72, had been intimidated in early September by strangers hanging around her home calling her on the intercom and phone.
She had received the support of European diplomats, who had come to her home to support her.
Belarus has been shaken since early August by an unprecedented protest movement against the fraudulent re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994.
Alexander Lukashenko has so far refused to engage in dialogue with the opposition, and protests have systematically resulted in hundreds of arrests.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of people took part in the weekly opposition rally in the streets of Minsk, like every weekend since the disputed presidential election of August 9.
