Belarus opposition figure ‘tore passport to pieces’ to avoid forced expulsion

Preventing an attempted “forcible expulsion from her native country,” Maria Kolesnikova, a Belarus opposition figure who was arrested on Tuesday, purposefully tore her passport to pieces. Kolesnikova is the last of three women leading the mass protest against President Alexander Lukashenko to remain inside Belarus.

Maria, who was forced into a van by masked men in Minsk on Monday, was said to be detained by officials on Tuesday. While, border officials said she had been trying to flee the country, two colleagues with her who crossed into Ukraine said she had resisted the expulsion.

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The press secretary of the opposition’s Coordination Council, Anton Rodnenkov, and its executive secretary Ivan Kravtsov detailed the events at a press conference from Ukraine.

“What they were interested in was getting Maria Kolesnikova outside the country. They said this was necessary to de-escalate the situation in Belarus,” Kravtsov said. The three were eventually taken in a car to the buffer zone between the two countries’ borders.

“It was clear that she was being taken by force, she was resisting. She was pushed into the back seat, she yelled that she wasn’t going anywhere. She tore up her passport into small pieces, then went out the car window and walked back to the Belarusian border,” Rodnenkov said to AFP.

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Kolesnikova played a key role in the campaign of opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory over President Alexander Lukashenko in a disputed election last month. She has since spoken at huge protests against his rule.

Tikhanovskaya called for her ally to be immediately freed. “By kidnapping people in broad daylight, Lukashenko is showing his weakness and fear,” she said in a statement from Lithuania, where she has taken refuge.