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ONE OF BELARUS’ leading opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova has been detained while trying to cross into Ukraine, border officials said today.
Kolesnikova was detained while trying to cross overnight with two other members of the opposition’s Coordination Council who were able to pass through to Ukraine, Anton Bychkovsky, a spokesman of the State Border Committee, told AFP.
She and the two other council members, press secretary Anton Rodnenkov and executive secretary Ivan Kravtsov, disappeared yesterday.
Bychkovsky said Rodnenkov and Kravtsov were able to cross into Ukraine, and the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk confirmed to AFP they were in the country.
Kolesnikova was being held and “an investigation is under way to legally assess the situation”, Bychkovsky said.
State news agency Belta quoted border officials as saying the three had tried to cross the border in a BMW car at around 4am today.
The Coordination Council was set up to ensure a peaceful transfer of power after President Alexander Lukashenko’s main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya rejected his claim to have won an 9 August presidential election with 80% of the vote.
The disputed election has sparked widespread protests and a harsh police crackdown that has seen several thousand people arrested.
Germany and Britain yesterday demanded answers after Kolesnikova went missing and allies said she had been snatched off the streets by unidentified men.
Kolesnikova (38) is the only one of the trio of women who fronted Tikhanovskaya’s campaign to remain in Belarus.
Tikhanovskaya left the country under pressure from the authorities and was granted refuge in EU member state Lithuania, while her other campaign partner, Veronika Tsepkalo, is now in Ukraine.
Mass arrests
The European Union yesterday led calls for Belarus to immediately release the more than 600 people arrested this week for protesting against the election that extended Alexander Lukashenko’s 26 years in power.
The interior ministry said 633 people were detained on Sunday for illegal mass gatherings, one of the largest wave of arrests since the early days of the demonstrations.
“The EU expects the Belarusian authorities to ensure the immediate release of all detained on political grounds before and after the falsified 9 August presidential elections,” its diplomatic head Josep Borrell said.
“The EU will impose sanctions on individuals responsible for violence, repression and falsification of election results,” he added.
Voicing concern over the fate of Kolesnikova, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas yesterday demanded “clarity on the whereabouts and the release of all political prisoners in Belarus.”
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab added: “Seriously concerned for the welfare of Maria Kolesnikova in #Belarus. Lukashenko’s regime must make her safe return their highest priority. The regime must cease brutalising protestors, release political prisoners and begin dialogue with the opposition.”
Canada’s Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne called for the release of people detained, including opposition members and journalists.
“The most recent arbitrary arrests of leading opposition voices and acts of repression are unacceptable,” he said.
‘Don’t know where Maria is’
“The more they try to scare us, the more people will take to the streets,” Tikhanovskaya said in a statement.
The disputed election has sparked demonstrations that have seen tens of thousands take to the streets of the ex-Soviet country of 9.5 million on Russia’s western borders, in an unprecedented challenge to Lukashenko.
An AFP journalist said the crowd of demonstrators waving the opposition’s red-and-white flag on Sunday appeared to be as large or larger than on the previous three Sundays, when more than 100,000 people rallied in the streets of Minsk.
But police also appeared to be stepping up a campaign to quash the demonstrations, deploying troops, water cannon and armoured vehicles.
Local media reported hooded men in civilian clothes with batons chased and beat demonstrators.
Kolesnikova’s office said witnesses described her being snatched off the street in the capital Minsk yesterday morning by unidentified men in black who bundled her into a minibus marked ‘Communications’.
“We still don’t know where Maria is and what is happening to her,” said lawyer Maxim Znak, a member of the Coordination Council, in a video blog yesterday evening.
The Coordination Council yesterday said Rodnenkov and Kravtsov had also disappeared, while police said they had no information on detentions.
Belarusian authorities had already detained several members of the Coordination Council and others have left the country under official pressure. One, Olga Kovalkova, said on Saturday she was in Poland after security services threatened her and took her to the border.
Kolesnikova and other members including Nobel Literature Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich have faced questioning in a probe over an alleged bid to seize power.
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If Dublin City Council really want to maximise O’Connell Street’s potential as the premier street in the city then investment in all surrounding areas like this is a must.
The north O’Connell Street regeneration with Moore St should take in the Parnell Sq area including the Garden of Remembrance, Hugh Lane gallery and the new Dublin library which will open next door in the old Colaiste Mhuire site. The Gate and Ambassador theatres are also there with the Savoy and GPO a stone throw.
It’s an area with a lot of potential to be a cultural quarter, whether they have the foresight or not is another thing.
€9 pints on Moore Street, can’t wait…
Great, so we’ll be expecting the council to allow a tesco and a McDonald’s to be built there soon enough
Don’t forget the rezoning too!!
Well we can’t all afford to shop in M&S and dine at The Gresham.
Why another tacky temple bar? Why not a historical, well kept area like you get in continental Europe?
Did you even make an attempt to read the article???
It clearly states “Haughey, the late Fianna Fáil Taoiseach, is widely credited with spearheading the regeneration of Temple Bar, which is now effectively the city’s ‘tourist quarter’ – however, initial plans for the area envisaged a cultural district, with an emphasis on galleries and art studios rather than bars and food outlets.”
Give the partisan bigotry a rest and get on board with a great plan for inner city Dublin/our shared national heritage.
The only thing I want to see on Moore Street is some salt of the earth woman offering me apples 5 for 50 just like the good old days.
Ps, Where will all the junkies go now!?
All the human beings with serious mental and addiction issues that cost more to the state on street than they do housed and working?
Oh I’m sure we can just continue to treat them like crap like we’ve always done.
All 5000/6000 of them need help and a lot of them need dual assistance as many have both mental and addiction issues. This was highlighted on rte prime time last night. Solutions involve safe injection centres, decriminalisation, drug testing kits, training of gardai for overdoses and supoort/social housing.
Yes and all of of these “safe places” should be in the city centre for the convenience of it all.
While we are at it lets build a few more blocks of flats in central locations, over looking a nice park maybe? With all mod cons of course. This way all of the victims of the world don’t need to travel far to avail of the services.
That’s just outrageous. You offer no solution except a paragraph making up stuff about mine?
Moore st is not really a haven for junkies. Moore lane, O’Rahilly parade and henry place; leading onto the henry st/o’connell st/north earl st intersection is. And no matter what is done to combat illegal activities and anti social behaviour of drug addicts in the inner city, unless there is (a)spaces in prisons and judges willing to fill them, (b) proper treatment of addiction without criminalising use, (c) secure housing for the homeless; the problem will always just move.
The simple fact of the matter is that government doesnt care about the marginalised in society. Public sector workers are having pay cuts reversed while we still run a defecit and many public services have not been restored let alone improved. Priorities are all wrong. We need solid action. Im not saying we should go as right wing as phoenix sheriff joe arpaio, but something similar to tent city for any sentence up to a year or two could ease the pressure on the prison service, stop the revolving door, and provide labour for public works. Use the money saved to invest in proper detox programs that provide secure housing afterwards.
Stay in this accommodation is subject to a 12 month probation and involves either work in public services or employment training. If these terms aren’t met, back in the tent city for two months. Either that or someone willing to put themselves forward to house them, family etc. And the need to participate in training/public work remains until employment is found.
Last thing Dublin needs is anything remotely like god awful temple bar.
Another Temple Bar…..
Great! The first one has worked out so well.
Fianna Fail making another attempt to reinvent the wheel.
I remember as a child being enthralled by Moore st, especially around christmas time. We would all go into town to see the magnificent christmas windows Arnotts used to have and wander around for the day. I remember the women calling out all their special offers. It a memory I will have forever, sadly it was never be experienced by my kids…everything is so commercial now
Christmas windows and shouting of special offers?
Sounds like your experience was always commercial
Kevin…they used to do lovely windows, puppets and dolls, winter themes..all kid orientated. Nothing to do with what was instore..they were brilliant, and its a memory i will cherish…no need to trash it for me.
Anyway its friday..you should be winding down for the weekend
Kid orientated commercial merchandising.
I’m not ruining your memories just highlighting the fact when you said “its all gone commercial now” it was in fact always commercial.
Lets not fall out kevin…after all its only more FF waffle
Tis
Was Arnotts non-commercial in those days, or something?
Remove the thieves,junkies,winos and other dross!
I agree Glen, get rid of the “ethnic” shops in Moore Street and bring back the ladies with their stalls!
Winos and dross?
You want to ban ethnic people?
What’s wrong with ethnic shops?
No I would prefer if Moore Street retained its Irish character hence these shops are out of place there.No problem with them elsewhere.As for junkies yes need to be removed from central Dublin, they are the cause of lots of crime and and anti social behaviour.
What sort of shops would you put there then Gus – bacon and cabbage shops? Irish people eat more Chinese food than bacon and cabbage nowadays. And you’d be hard-pressed to find many shops in Dublin draped with Irish flags like the Chinese shop in the picture above. These are genuine local businesses set up by local residents who are, whether you like it or not, Irish. This is entirely in keeping with the history of the street. I’d rather have what’s there than more Lidls and Tescos and chain restaurants.
Sweet jesus, an urban redevelopment company, a bunch of carpet bagging vultures is all that means. That’s moore street even more f**ked than it was
FF and the Haughey legacy. Great article from the Feb/March last in the Phoenix concerning commercial properties – “The Haughey lease”. The dept of Justice buildings on 74-76 St Stephen’s green were set up by him as minister for justice in 1963 as a 75-year ratchet upward-only rent review lease benefitting landlord Dr Colm McDonnell.
Then John Byrne of the Carlisle Trust Ltd benefitted by replacing the Carlisle buildings at O Connell bridge with the 11-storey O Connell bridge house which in 1964 housed the OPW for a 35-year ratchet rent lease.
The adept of Agriculture, Kildare Place – Haughey again, as minister for Finance, didn’t enable State ownership but appeased developers by not only providing the standard Commercial lease of 5-10 years and instead created a 150-year lease ending in the year 2123. How creative! Who benefits? Irish Life. By 1984, only 11 years after the building was complete (Agriculture House), Irish Life was already collecting as much in rent per year as it cost to build in the first place.
FF are gangsters, as are FG and Labour. Out with them. They all have left a filthy legacy. The current mob are crashing our future daily with mindless subservience to the Troika and the Corporations. The people are asleep.
I’m not sure why a ‘big picture’ plan is needed (did someone say centenary bandwagon election manifesto?). Take the three relevant terrace buildings and finally put some museum there. The traders on Moore Street have been there long before us, so who is it for someone here and now to say that they can’t trade there anymore? (Which I’m sure is what is envisaged in this regeneration). So the museum and a touch-up would suffice.
Is they want to do something useful, put some effort into making O’Connell Street a nicer place to be rather than simply putting down a load of drab granite. Incentivise something a little better than fast food outlets to setup there. Some brainstorming: close it off to traffic after a certain hour, allow bars to setup outdoors with canopies and outdoor heaters, etc.
It’s not some sort of national treasure FFS, it’s a run down hovel in a run down part of town. Knock, rebuild, and put in the right mix of commercial, leisure, residential, and kick the place back to the first world. One sure way to lose the junkies, howeryis, scrotes and skangers.
Where do you want to send all the homeless people?
So we should just get rid of a market which has been there for 200 years and replace it all with a glass box and a shiny new centra? How did that work out for Smithfield?
Two words: Les Halles. Look it up. Seemed to work out pretty well…
Paul McAuliffe enough said!
Well done to all involved with this proposal excellent idea.
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