KYIV — Political allies of jailed Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova said on Wednesday a rapid deterioration in her health last week and eventual hospitalization were prompted by bad treatment in prison.
The strident critic of President Alexander Lukashenko underwent surgery last week and was put in intensive care in a ward in Gomel in southeast Belarus. Her father said she had been treated for a perforated ulcer and peritonitis.
Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
Kolesnikova, who is serving an 11-year jail sentence after leading mass protests in 2020, had been in a solitary confinement punishment cell before her health worsened sharply, opposition politician Viktor Babariko’s Telegram account said.
“Her emergency hospitalization with a perforated ulcer and peritonitis was the result of the disproportionately harsh detention in a punishment cell,” it said in statement.
It said she had lost consciousness, complained of feeling unwell but been denied medical assistance for a long time.
“She began to have a crisis: in addition to problems with blood pressure, nausea and losing consciousness there was excruciating pain in her stock,” it said.
Kolesnikova was one of several leaders of the street protests against Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. She was jailed on what she says were trumped-up allegations of involvement in mass unrest.
More than 10,000 criminal cases have been opened since 2020 for involvement in protests or criticizing the authorities, which is also an offense. (Writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage)
