Convicted Belarusian opposition figure Kalesnikava admitted to ICU

Maria Kalesnikava, a Belarusian opposition politician who is serving time in prison for “attempted coup” has been admitted to an intensive care unit in Homel, says the Telegram channel of Viktar Babaryka, another opposition politician .

The cause of the hospitalisation and Kalesnikava’s current condition are unknown. “An ambulance brought her over on 28 November, she was hospitalised in a surgery department and admitted to an intensive care unit,” the hospital told Kalesnikava’s lawyer.

Kalesnikava had been serving time in solitary confinement prior to her hospitalisation for an unknown period. Her lawyers were denied visiting her several times for an undisclosed reason.

Kalesnikava is serving her sentence in a female prison in Homel. She and Maxim Znak, another opposition politician, were sentenced to 11 and 10 years in prison respectively for “plotting a coup” and “creating an extremist organisation and managing it” in September 2021. Vyasna, a human rights centre, considers the two political prisoners.

Maria Kalesnikava worked as a coordinator for Viktar Babaryka during the 2020 presidential election in Belarus and actively participated in the Belarusian protests which followed the election before being arrested in September of the same year. The Belarusian security forces then tried to forcibly evict her out of the country by taking her to Ukraine, but she tore her passport apart at a border checkpoint and got out of the car through the window.