Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has demanded the immediate release of the Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova, who has been sentenced to lengthy imprisonment. “The reports on Maria Kolesnikova’s state of health affect me very much,” wrote the Greens politician on Twitter on Wednesday. She added: “The regime in
Kolesnikova, 40, was transferred to her prison’s intensive care unit after an operation, according to another jailed politician on Tuesday. “Masha is in intensive care, cause unknown,” tweeted Viktor Babariko. She was operated on Monday, he wrote, without giving details. “She is currently in a stable, serious condition, improving.” There were no official statements in this regard.
Along with Svetlana Tichanovskaya, Kolesnikova is considered a figurehead of the Belarusian opposition to long-term ruler Alexander Lukashenko. The two led nationwide protests in 2020 against the disputed presidential election in which Lukashenko declared himself the winner. Tichanovskaya went into exile in Lithuania, while Kolesnikova was arrested and sentenced to eleven years in prison for conspiracy to subvert. The process is considered a political staging.
