Maria Kolesnikova, a leader of the opposition in Belarus, has been released from prison and transferred to intensive care at a hospital.
After having surgery Monday, Ms Kolesnikova (40) is said to be in stable but serious condition in Gomel’s eastern city.
After protests against the discredit re-election in Belarus of Alexander Lukashenko one year prior, she was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.
She claimed that the charges were faked.
“I don’t regret anything,” she said to Sarah Rainsford, BBC’s Sarah Rainsford 2021. “And I’d do it again.”
, Ms Kolesnikova’s Twitter account, was run by her friends. stated that Maria was transferred to hospital…and had surgery on 28 November.
“She is now stable and in serious condition. She has made significant improvements.” Tomorrow (30 November) she will be transferred to the surgical section.
Similar comments were made by Viktor Babariko, a jailed opposition politician from Belarus, and Belarus’ opposition groups. According to reports, her lawyer was not permitted to visit her earlier.
This month, it was revealed that Ms Kolesnikova was in solitary confinement. Her team stated on Twitter that she was suffering from a surgical pathology.
Belarus’ prison authorities are not commenting.
Soon after Mr Lukashenko won the 2020 presidential election, mass street protests took place in Belarus. Opposition claims that the results were falsified and that Svetlana Tikhnovskaya was the winner.
Many demonstrators were brutally beat while others – such as Ms Tikhanovskaya- were forced to exile, because Mr Lukashenko (who has been at the helm since 1994) tries to crush any dissent.
After kidnapping Ms Kolesnikova in Minsk, the Belarusian security force tried to deport her to Ukraine in 2020.
She refused to leave, and ripped her passport at the border. Then she climbed out of the car’s window.
