Opposition leader held at border after refusing to leave Belarus
● Two other council members forced to cross Ukrainian border
A leading opposition activist in Belarus was held on the border yesterday after she resisted an attempt by authorities’ to force her to leave the country.
Her expulsion was par t of government effor ts to end a month of protests against the re - electi on of the co untr y’s authoritarian leader.
Maria Kolesnikova, a member of the Co-ordination Council created by the opposition to facilitate talks with longtime leader President Alexander Lukashenko on a transition of power, was detained Monday in the capital Minsk, along with two other council members.
Early yesterday they were driven to the Ukrainian border where authorities told them to cross into Ukraine. Ms Kolesnikova refused and remained on the Belarusian side of the border in the custody of Belarusian authorities.
Two other council members, Ivan Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov, crossed into Ukraine.
Some reports said Ms Kolesnikova ripped up her passport to avoid being forced to move to Ukraine.
Anton Bychkovsky,s pokesman for Belarus’ Border Guard Committee, confirmed Ms K oles nikovawa sin the custody of Belarusian authorities, but refused to give any details of what happened on the border.
Belarus has applied similar tactics with other opposition figures, seeking to end a month of demonstrations against the re-election of Mr Lukashenko in a vote that protesters see as rigged. Mr Lukashenko has ruled the country for 26 years, relentlessly stifling dissent and keeping most of the economy in state hands.
The 66-year-old former state farm director has rejected criticism from the United States and the European Union, which said the 9 August election was neither free nor fair. He has shrugged off their demands to engage in a dialogue with the opposition.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition ch allenger to Mr Lukashenko, left for Lithuania a day after the election under pressure from authorities.
Addressing the Council of Europe’ s Par li amentary Assembly yesterday, Ms T sikh an us kay a called for international sanctions against Mr Lukashenko and other government officials.
“We need international pressure on this regime, on this one individual, desperately clinging onto power,” she said.
Ms Tsikhanouskaya said Mr Lukashenko did not have any legitimacy after stealing the vote, warning other countries against making any deals with the Belarusian government.
“He does not represent Belarus anymore,” she said.
After a brutal crack down on protesters in the first few days after the vote that stoked international outrage and swelled the ranks of protesters, authorities in Belarus have switched to threats and selective arrests of opposition activists and demonstrators.
Last week Pavel Latushko, a former minister of culture and ambassador to France who joined the opposition council, travelled to Poland after facing threats and being questioned. His departure came a day after Mr Lukashenko warned Mr Latushko had crossed a “red line” and would face prosecution.
On Saturday, a top associate of Ms T sikh a no us kay a, Olga Kovalkova, also moved to Poland after the authorities threatened to keep her in jail for a long time if she refused to leave the country.
Ms Kovalkova said agents of the Belarusian State Security Committee put her into a car, where she was told lie on the floor. She was dropped off in no-man’s land between the Belarus and Poland border. Polish border guards asked a bus driver driving into Poland to take her on board.
The efforts to make opposition activists leave the country come amid a criminal probe against members of the Co - ordination Council.