Jailed Belarus opposition figure reportedly allowed to see father after 2 years of isolation

Imprisoned Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava, from whom almost nothing has been heard for over two years, has been allowed to meet her father in prison, according to a photograph posted by Belarusian blogger Raman Pratasevich on Tuesday.

“To be honest, I still can’t believe it’s worked out, but it has. I’m on my way to meet her now,” Pratasevich said in a 12-second video in a separate post which showed neither Kalesnikava nor her father.

Kalesnikava, who has not been permitted visitors in prison for two years, last saw her father in late 2022 after undergoing surgery for a perforated ulcer. Even then, they were only allowed to spend 10 minutes together under supervision.

In an interview with the BBC last month, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said he would consider pardoning Kalesnikava if she wrote to him with a formal request for clemency.

Speaking to journalists after the interview, Kalesnikava’s sister, Tatiana Khomich, said she hadn’t had contact with her sibling for over a year and a half. Relatives have been denied access to her since her father’s visit, and letters have not been delivered since February 2023.

Kalesnikava worked for opposition candidate Viktar Babaryka during the 2020 Belarus presidential election, which ended with mass protests against Lukashenko’s return to the presidency, followed by a massive crackdown on the entire political opposition. After Babaryka was arrested, Kalesnikava went to work for Lukashenko’s main rival, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Kalesnikava chose not to leave Belarus amid the government’s crackdown on opposition figures and was herself eventually arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison in September 2021 for conspiracy to seize power, threatening national security and creating an extremist group.

The former editor of independent Belarusian media outlet Nexta, Pratasevich was arrested by the Belarusian authorities after the Ryanair flight he was travelling on was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk under false pretences on 23 May 2021. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2023, but was later pardoned and is now seen as regime-compliant.