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Maria Kolesnikova during her 2021 court hearing
Photo:
Ramil Nasibulin / dpa
The recovery of Belarusian activist Maria Kolesnikova is progressing according to her supporters.
The press service of opposition politician Viktor Babaryko, who was also arrested, said Kolesnikova's father was able to visit her in the hospital in Gomel in the south-east of the country.
"According to the doctors, she is doing better and has a normal appetite," said a message on Telegram.
Kolesnikova had been operated on and "knows her diagnosis."
What the 40-year-old was missing, however, was not communicated to her father, it said.
Kolesnikova was hospitalized on Monday for unspecified reasons and transferred to the intensive care unit on Tuesday.
She has now been able to leave and is now being treated in the surgical department, the message said.
Kolesnikova is one of the most well-known faces of the opposition in Belarus.
Alongside opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and activist Veronika Zepkalo, Kolesnikova led the mass protests against the authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020.
As one of the few leading Belarusian opposition figures, Kolesnikova decided against fleeing into exile.
In September 2021 she was sentenced to eleven years in prison.
She was accused of, among other things, "conspiracy to seize power".
EU calls for release of Kolesnikova
In view of her hospitalization, the European Union has asked Belarus to release Kolesnikova.
"The reports about her health situation are very, very worrying," said spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
It is "extremely important" that Kolesnikova receives the necessary medical treatment and care that her state of health requires.
The Belarusian authorities "are responsible for her health and well-being while she is unlawfully detained," the spokesman said.
atb/AFP/Reuters