BELARUS: Kolesnikova is due to leave hospital on Monday

It remains unclear why the Belarusian opposition activist Kolesnikova had to go to the intensive care unit. But her father has now learned from the doctors that the political prisoner will be released from hospital on Monday.

After treatment in the intensive care unit, Belarusian opposition Maria Kolesnikova is due to leave hospital on Monday. This was announced by the Belarusian opposition, citing her father, Alexander Kolesnikov, who met with his daughter’s doctor.

Maria ate breakfast and felt normal, according to Kolesnikov. It remains unclear why Kolesnikova had to be treated in the intensive care unit. The opposition activist was arrested in the summer of 2020 and sentenced to 11 years in prison – for allegedly plotting to overthrow him. The process was considered a political phase.

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Opponents of Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko complain that the lawyer has no access to Kolesnikova. There is no reliable information about their condition. Kolesnikov also saw only doctors, but not his daughter.

Kolesnikova has previously been placed in solitary confinement. A complaint against harsh solitary confinement was dismissed.

Along with opposition leader Svetlana Tishanovskaya, who lives in exile in Lithuania, Kolesnikova is a figurehead for the Belarusian opposition. They have led nationwide protests against the disputed 2020 presidential election, in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. The police and judiciary cracked down on the demonstrators.