Belarus Protest Organizer Charged With Undermining National Security
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Political and social unrest is rising in Belarus after a protest organizer was charged with undermining national security. Authorities in have linked Maria Kolesnikova to what they view as attempts to destabilize the former Soviet nation.
Officials say she was charged with incitement to undermine national security amid ongoing protests against long-time Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
Witnesses say the 38-year old Kolesnikova was seized last week by masked men. Kolesnikova reportedly ripped up her passport when authorities tried to expel her from the country at the border with Ukraine.
Fellow opposition activist Ivan Kravtsov witnessed the events. “At that moment, Maria was forcefully put in the car. She literally tore her passport into small pieces,” he recalled.
“It was lying in the car, and she took it immediately and teared it up. Then she climbed out of the car through the rear window because the doors were locked. And then she probably walked to the Belarussian territory. This was in no-mans land. I think it is really heroic. It is really fantastic what she did,” he added.
ONGOING RALLIES
In a statement, Kolesnikova claimed that she was told she would “be taken out of Belarus alive or in bits.” She also said that security forces threatened to imprison her for up to 25 years.
Three women have been leading or inspiring ongoing mass rallies, but she is the only one not to go into exile. Demonstrators say Lukashenko rigged the August 9 presidential election after ruling Belarus with an iron fist for 26 years.
In response, Lukashenko has now accused the United States of fomenting the unrest by backing the demonstrators. He cited an alleged U.S.-led plan to destabilize the country. And the president claimed that American allies in Europe have participated in the effort that took years to prepare.
Lukashenko is also in a standoff with neighboring Ukraine. Belarus and Ukraine have traded angry accusations over thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims who have remained stuck on their border.
Ukraine denied them entry because of coronavirus restrictions. It accused Belarusian authorities of issuing misleading signals to the pilgrims that they could eventually cross the border.
WESTERN OUTRAGE
Ukrainian authorities suggested that Belarus wants to create chaos and human misery because Ukraine backed Western outrage over the allegedly rigged presidential election.
Ukraine says some 2,000 Hasidic Jewish pilgrims converged on the border to cross over and reach Uman. The grave of a revered Hasidic rabbi who died in 1810, Nachman of Breslov, is located in that Ukrainian city.
Thousands of the ultra-Orthodox Jews visit the city each September for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.
Unlike Ukraine, Belarus President Lukashenko has better ties with neighboring Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him a $1.5 billion loan after face-to-face talks between the two men on Monday.
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