'No letters, no calls': Concern grows for families of Belarusian political prisoners
An increasing number of family and friends of Belarusian political prisoners say they are unable to contact their loved ones. LONDON -- An increasing number of family and friends of Belarusian political prisoners say they are unable to contact their loved ones. There are hundreds of political prison ers in Belarus, many of whom were arrested in the aftermath of the disputed 2020 presidential election, when protests and dissent were violently suppressed. Tatsiana Komich hasn’t heard from her sister, Maria Kalesnikava since February. Kalesnikava has been in prison since Sept. 2020 after she refused to be forcibly deported from Belarus by tearing her passport to shreds. Maria Kolesnikova, the last remaining protest leader still in Belarus, gestures making a heart shape inside the defendants' cage during her verdict hearing on charges of undermining national security, conspiring to seize power and creating an extremist group, on Sept. 6, 2021, in Minsk, Belarus. Ramil Nasibulin/BELTA...