Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich denounces Belarus 'terror', urges people to unite

Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich accused Belarusian authorities of terrorising their own people as she urged protesters to remain united in the face of adversity. Alexievich reportedly summoned her supporters to her home after another opposition figure, Maxim Znak, was detained by masked men in plain clothes in the latest round-up ordered by President Alexander Lukashenko.

Diplomats from at least seven countries joined Alexievich, winner of 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature, at her home to show solidarity against the crackdown on protesters and opposition leaders. Speaking to reporters from her apartment, Alexievich said that the supporters need to unite and not give up on their intentions as there is a looming threat of losing the country.

“This is terror against our own people,” she said.

Znak, who has been demanding the resignation of Lukashenko and transfer the power to the opposition, was detained by masked men after another opposition leader, Maria Kolesnikova, was snatched in a similar manner. Citing witnesses, Kolesnikova’s campaign team had said that the political activist was pushed into a minibus by unidentified men in black.

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Threat to opposition leaders

Kolesnikova, 38, is one of a famous trio of women who challenged the election results last month but the only one who remained in the country even after growing security threat.  She sits on the Coordination Council which was set up to oversee the peaceful transfer of power to Tikhanovskaya but continued detention has caused major concern regarding Belarus political crisis.

Kolesnikova’s lawyer reportedly said that the singer-activist was being detained over accusations of an illegal attempt to seize power. The main opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has fled to neighbouring Lithuania and Veronika Tsepkalo to Poland amid bloody street protests over contentious election results.

Tsikhanouskaya had contested the election results and demanded Lukashenko hand over the power, accusing the leader of poll rigging triggered. Last week, she urged the United Nations to intervene in the ongoing crackdown on protesters using all mechanisms possible, saying a "nation cannot be hostage to one man's thirst of power." 

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(With AP inputs)