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Crisis in Belarus

Tikhanovskaya blames Belarusian authorities for disappearance of opposition figure

According to the ex-presidential candidate, the country’s leadership is thus trying to derail the activity of the opposition

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya Natalia Fedosenko/TASS

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya

© Natalia Fedosenko/TASS

MINSK, September 7./TASS/. Former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya holds the Belarusian authorities responsible for the disappearance of Maria Kolesnikova, member of the presidium of the Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council.

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Lawyers looking for Belarusian opposition politicians Kolesnikova, Kravtsov, Rodnenkov

Hence, the country’s leadership is working to derail the activity of opposition organizations, the politician said.

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Belarusian opposition council member says his colleague Kolesnikova cannot be contacted

"The regime [of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko] shows that it is acting only through intimidation. The abduction of Maria Kolesnikova, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov is an attempt to disrupt the activity of the Coordination Council," she said.

"However, this won’t stop us. The more they intimidate us, the more people will take to the streets. We will continue to fight, [we] will pursue the release of all those jailed and a new, fair election," the Telegram channel of Tikhanovskaya’s press service quoted her as saying on Monday.

Some Belarusian media outlets have reported that unidentified individuals abducted Kolesnikova near the National Art Museum in Minsk on the morning of September 7. Member of the Coordination Council’s Presidium Maxim Znak confirmed to TASS that they could not get in touch with Kolesnikova.

The Interior Ministry’s Minsk Directorate informed TASS that it was verifying reports about Kolesnikova’s disappearance. The Interior Ministry said it had no information about the detention of the opposition politician. Apart from Kolesnikova, lawyers are also looking for Ivan Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov from the Coordination Council, with whom they also failed to establish contact.

Belarus held its presidential election on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission’s data, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won 80.10% of the vote, whereas Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was considered to be his key rival, garnered 10.12% of the ballot. Subsequently, she refused to recognize the outcome of the polls. After the results of exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests flared up in downtown Minsk and other cities. In the early days they were accompanied by clashes between protesters and police. The authorities call for an end to illegal rallies, while the Coordination Council set up by the opposition demands more protests.

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