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Belarus Opposition Figure Says She Was Threatened With Death On Expulsion Attempt

By RFE/RL September 10, 2020

Belarusian opposition leader Maryya Kalesnikava has said in a court filing that security officers placed a bag over her head and said they would kill her as they tried to force her out of the country.

Kalesnikava's lawyer, Lyudmila Kazak, said on September 10 that the opposition figure filed a complaint over the incident and was seeking legal action against the authorities, including the Belarusian KGB, over her treatment.

The 38-year-old has become a prominent leader of protests demanding the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka following the August 9 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged. Lukashenka denies rigging the vote.

She was snatched from the streets of Minsk on September 7 by masked men along with two staffers. The three were driven early on September 8 to the border, where they were told to cross into Ukraine.

Security officers reportedly failed to deport Kalesnikava because she ripped her passport into small pieces after they arrived in a no-man's land between Belarus and Ukraine. The other two people with her, the opposition Coordinating Council press secretary, Anton Randyonkau, and executive secretary, Ivan Kravtsov, continued on and are now believed to be in Ukraine.

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center on September 10 published a joint statement by 12 human rights watchdogs based in Belarus recognizing Kalesnikava and two associates also being detained as political prisoners and demanding their immediate release from custody.

"We are confident that criminal prosecution of M. Kalesnikava, M. Znak, and I. Saley is of a politically motivated character and has been organized with the aim of stopping their legal activities or to change their goals," the statement says.

"We are stating that we recognize Maryya Kalesnikava, Maksim Znak, and Illya Saley as political prisoners and demand [their] immediate release and closure of the criminal investigations launched against them."

The Belarusian Investigative Committee has said Kalesnikava, Saley, and Znak were all arrested on suspicion of calling for a seizure of power.

Lukashenka, who has led the country for 26 years and claimed victory in the disputed presidential election, has refused to meet with the opposition or agree to a new election.

A month of regular protests has ensued since the vote, including demonstrations from some of the workers and other prominent groups the strongman president has kept in tight lockstep in the past.

Lukashenka has directed a brutal postelection clampdown that has included thousands of arrests, beatings and other mistreatment of peaceful protesters, and expulsions of foreign journalists.

Kazak met with Kalesnikava on September 9 for the first time since her disappearance, saying she was put in a cell with six other people at a pretrial detention center.

Kazak on September 10 reiterated a previous statement saying that she and her client will request a forensic medical examination, as Kalesnikava has bruises on her body and plans to sue the officers who tried to forcibly deport her.

With reporting by Tut.by

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus- opposition-figure-says-threatened-with-death- on-expulsion-attempt/30830731.html

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Belarus Opposition Figure Says She Was Threatened With Death On Expulsion Attempt