Imprisoned Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova was admitted to intensive care and underwent surgery, her allies said.
“Maria is in the emergency room of Gomel hospital, in the intensive care unit,” said the press service of Viktor Babaryko, another opposition politician.
Kolesnikova’s father, Alexander Kolesnikov, said his daughter was in serious but stable condition. Doctors did not share his diagnosis or any other details with him about the operation, Kolesnikov said.
He noted that his daughter looked energetic and cheerful when she last visited prison about a month ago.
Kolesnikova’s lawyer said she was placed in a prison cell before being taken to hospital. He did not specify his condition.
The lawyer said authorities repeatedly denied her requests to see Kolesnikova at the prison where she was being held.
Kolesnikova was among a trio of female leaders – along with Veronika Tsepkalo and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya – who led historic protests against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2020. Massive rallies erupted across Belarus against Lukashenko’s claim to a sixth presidential term.
Kolesnikova was imprisoned for 11 years after resisting deportation from Belarus. In September 2020, the country’s KGB security service drove her to the Ukrainian border after putting a bag over her head and pushing her into a minibus, but at the border Kolesnikova tore up her passport so that ‘she cannot be expelled.
Lukashenko’s crackdown on protests has led to thousands of arrests and the forced exile or imprisonment of activists and journalists.
“What terrible news. Our dear Masha, we all hope you are well! said exiled opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya. Kolesnikova, 40, is the only one of the three women still in Belarus.
With Associated Press and AFP
