Belarus activist thwarts bid to deport her
KYIV, Ukraine — A leading opposition activist in Belarus was held on the border with this nation Tuesday after she resisted an attempt by authorities to deport her as part of government efforts to end a month of protests against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Maria Kolesnikova, a member of the Coordination Council created by the opposition to facilitate talks with the longtime leader on a transition of power, was detained Monday in the capital of Minsk with two other council members.
They were driven early Tuesday to the border, where authorities told them to cross into Ukraine. When they arrived in a no-man’s land between the countries, Kolesnikova ripped her passport into small pieces to make it impossible for the authorities to expel her.
She remained in custody on the Belarusian side of the border.
Two other council members who crossed into Ukraine, Ivan
Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov, described Kolesnikova’s action with admiration.
“She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.”
He said “Maria is in great shape, full of energy and spirits, as always.”
Anton Bychkovsky, spokesman for Belarus’ Border Guard Committee, confirmed she’s in the custody of Belarusian authorities but refused to give any details of what happened on the border.
The decision to arrest Maria Kolesnikova was the right one,
Lukashenko said, adding that she was being held for a border violation.
In a TV interview with Russian state media, Lukashenko also admitted that “probably I have stayed on a little too long.” He continued: “But only I can protect Belarus now,” rejecting protesters’ demands that he step down.
“No way I’m going to resign just like that,” he said. “I’ve been developing Belarus for a quarter of a century. I’m not going to give it all up.”
Lukashenko also ruled out meeting with the Coordination Council.
Another associate of Tsikhanouskaya, Antonina Konovalova, disappeared Tuesday after a court fined her for taking part in a weekend protest.
As evening fell, police dispersed several hundred demonstrators rallying in Minsk in solidarity with Kolesnikova and detained at least 45 protesters, according to the Viasna human rights center.