Allies of imprisoned Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova sounded the alarm on Friday over reports her health has seriously deteriorated behind bars, saying she was being subjected to "slow murder."
Kolesnikova led massive street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020, refused to be forcibly deported and was then sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2021.
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She has had no direct contact with the outside world for over a year.
Based on reports from other prisoners, Kolesnikova's exiled allies warned Friday she was facing "slow murder" in the ex-Soviet country's oppressive prison system.
"The information we receive about Maria Kolesnikova from fellow prisoners is alarming," exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said on X.
"She now weighs just 45 kilograms (99 pounds), is starving & held in constant isolation under horrible conditions. This medieval cruelty & slow murder is happening right here in Europe, in the 21st century," Tikhanovskaya said.
Kolesnikova has been blocked from receiving or writing letters, with allies saying she is held in constant solitary confinement.
She is detained in penal colony number four in Gomel, near the Russian and Ukrainian borders.
The Viasna rights group said it had this summer spoken to another political prisoner who was held in the same colony, who reported fellow inmates were barred from talking to Kolesnikova and that she is always accompanied by prison guards.
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In November 2022, the group said she had been taken for surgery in a Gomel hospital for a "perforated ulcer."
A musician by trade, Kolesnikova was part of a trio of women who led mass protests against Lukashenko, in power since 1994.
The demonstrations – which erupted in response to Lukashenko claiming victory in an election opponents and rights groups said was marred by fraud – were violently suppressed, with hundreds arrested and thousands fleeing into exile.
Kolesnikova said in 2020 that KGB officers had brought her to the Ukraine border with a sack on her head in a bid to forcibly deport her.
She ripped up her passport instead.
Reclusive for years, Belarus became even more isolated on the world stage since allowing Russia to use its territory to invade Ukraine.
According to Viasna, there are currently 1,371 political prisoners in Belarus. Some with serious illnesses were released over the summer in a rare amnesty.
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