In Belarus, Maria Kolesnikova has been kept in solitary confinement for a year

One of the opposition leaders in Belarus, Maria Kolesnikova, has been kept in solitary confinement for a year, in complete isolation. About it writes Belarusian service of Radio Liberty citing a source.

Kolesnikova’s relatives received the last letter from her on February 15, 2023. The Belarusian authorities do not provide her family with any information about her. It is only known that after the verdict in September 2021, Kolesnikova was sent to Gomel Women’s Colony No. 4, where she was immediately placed in a punishment cell.

According to the source, Kolesnikova is in solitary confinement in the PKT – a cell-type room. “According to the law, the maximum period of stay in the PKT is six months. Therefore, she was transferred to a punishment cell for several days – and from there she was again poisoned in the PKT,” he said.

In the punishment cell, prisoners are not provided with a mattress, pillow, blanket, bed linen or outerwear. As the publication’s interlocutor, recently released from the Gomel women’s colony, said, Kolesnikova was in the punishment cell only in a T-shirt, leggings and a uniform. She had to sleep on bare boards. “The cold and humidity make my joints hurt,” she emphasized.

In September 2021, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Kolesnikova to 11 years in prison, finding her guilty of conspiracy to seize power, calls to threaten national security, and creation of an extremist group. Human rights organizations consider Kolesnikova a political prisoner; leading world politicians demanded her release.

At the end of 2022, Kolesnikova underwent emergency surgery at the Gomel Emergency Hospital, where she was sent with a perforated ulcer. Soon after this, she was allowed a visit with her father: it lasted 10 minutes and took place under the supervision of a doctor and colony staff. After this, there was no information about Kolesnikova.

Another source from the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty claims that Kolesnikova’s health problems continue even now: “Firstly, the operation did not go without a trace. She lost a lot of weight. She had several colds. She had high blood pressure, but they refused to give her medicine,” – the publication’s interlocutor said.

During the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus, which ended with mass protests against Alexander Lukashenko, and then with mass repressions against rally participants, Maria Kolesnikova headed the headquarters of opposition candidate Viktor Babariko, and later, after his arrest, she worked in the team of another candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

Kolesnikova’s lawyer, in complaints about the refusal to admit Kolesnikova to the colony, indicated his fears for her state of health. There was no response to complaints or appeals from law enforcement agencies.