imprisoned opponent Maria Kolesnikova in intensive care hospital – Liberation

Maria Kolesnikova, one of the Belarusian opposition figures, has been hospitalized in intensive care, according to her supporters. “Maria was admitted to intensive care in Gomel”, in southeastern Belarus, the press service of Viktor Babaryko, another imprisoned Belarusian opponent of whom he was the right hand man, said in a statement. Maria Kolesnikova is serving an 11-year prison sentence.

According to the press release, Maria Kolesnikova, 40, was admitted to a surgical care unit on Monday, before being transferred to intensive care. “Terrible news! Our dear Macha (diminutive of Maria, ed), we all hope you are well”, writes the leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on Telegram.

Attempted deportation

Central figure in the challenge to the Belarusian regime in the summer of 2020, Maria Kolesnikova was sentenced in September 2021 to 11 years in prison, the Belarusian justice found her guilty of “conspiracy to seize power”, of“Calls for actions that undermine national security” and of “creation of an extremist formation”. She had been jailed in September 2020 after spectacularly resisting an attempt to deport her from her own country. According to her relatives, the Belarusian special services (KGB) kidnapped her, then put a bag over her head to take her to the Ukrainian border. Refusing to leave Belarus, she jumped out of a window and tore up her passport, which led to her imprisonment.

Maria Kolesnikova was one of the three women projected to head the protest movement, together with Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, candidate for the presidency in place of her imprisoned husband, and Veronika Tsepkalo. The last two fled the country under pressure from the authorities.

The protest movement, which brought together tens of thousands of protesters in the summer of 2020, has gradually been put down, with thousands of arrests, forced exiles and imprisonment of opponents, media officials and NGOs. .