Executive Secretary of the Coordinating Council (CC) of Belarus Ivan Kravtsov and press secretary of the organization Anton Rodnenkov gave a press conference in Kiev, where they told how the Belarusian security forces tried to use them to take out the member of the Constitutional Court  Maria Kolesnikova .

According to members of the Constitutional Court, they were detained in the courtyard of Kolesnikova’s house, where they arrived after she disappeared on the morning of September 7. Then they were taken to the Department of Financial Investigations, where they threatened Kravtsova with a criminal case and demanded to take Kolesnikova out of Belarus in her car in order to “de-escalate” the situation in the country. “We had a long conversation, towards the end they said that Maria Kolesnikova would be taken to the border. I realized that they were trying to deliver her by force, ”said Kravtsov.

After that, Rodnenkov and Kravtsov were put into minibuses and taken to the border of Belarus and Ukraine. In neutral territory, they were transferred to Kravtsov’s car, where their passports were already lying, after which Kolesnikova was forcibly put in the same place – Kravtsov noted that, apparently, she was taken on the way to the border, when the motorcade called at the KGB. “As soon as she was in the car and saw her passport in front, she immediately took her passport and tore it into many small pieces. She took these pieces and squeezed them and threw them out the window to unknown young people who surrounded the car, ”Rodnenkov said.

According to Kravtsov, when the officers accompanying them realized that with a torn passport Kolesnikov would not be able to get to Ukraine, they decided to detain Kravtsov and Rodnenkov themselves in the neutral zone, while they had not yet reached the Ukrainian border post, and chased their car, but not caught up.

Kravtsov also noted that he found medical insurance in the car, tests for coronavirus and air tickets – for him with Rodnenkov to Turkey, Kolesnikova – to Vienna and from there to Munich. The oppositionist suggested that this was done to “photograph and stage our alleged plans to fly abroad.”

Answering the question why he and Kravtsov did not act the same way as Kolesnikova, Rodnenkov said that they did not have enough determination. “This is a strong act that she decided on. Therefore, she is one of the leaders of the opposition, and I am a press secretary, ”he said.

Kravtsov and Rodnenkov said that they were not going to seek political asylum in Ukraine.

DETENTION OF MARIA KOLESNIKOVA

• Maria Kolesnikova was detained at the border with Ukraine a day after she disappeared in Minsk. the main thing
• Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition, disappeared in Minsk. There is at least one witness of her abduction; security officials say they have nothing to do with it
• (c)MEDUZA 2020