EU Alarm As Anti-Lukashenka Leader Feared Abducted Amid Deepening Belarus Crackdown. Arbitrary arrests and kidnappings on political grounds in Belarus, including this morning's brutal actions against Andrei Yahorau, Irina Sukhiy & Maria Kalesnikova, are unacceptable. State authorities must stop intimidating citizens & violating their own laws and int. obligations
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Opponents of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka are scrambling to locate one of their most influential leaders after a report suggested a member of the opposition Coordinating Council's presidium was hustled away in a minivan by unidentified men early on the 30th day of anti-government protests.
The independent, Russian-language news portal Tut.by quoted an eyewitness as saying Maryya Kalesnikava was abruptly swept from the street in downtown Minsk on September 7 and taken into a vehicle, marked "Communication."
The Belarusian Interior Ministry, its national Investigative Committee, and the State Control Committee have all said they have no information about Kalesnikava's disappearance. Minsk police said they did not detain her.
The apparent abduction came one day after authorities acknowledged arresting more than 600 people at protests across the country over the weekend that attracted tens of thousands of people to pressure Lukashenka to resign following what they say was a rigged election last month.
Lukashenka, who has ruled the country for 26 years, has refused to hold talks with his opponents and rebuffed calls to hold a new election.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Council said its press secretary, Anton Randyonkau, and its executive secretary, Ivan Kravtsov, had also disappeared. Police said they had no information on the alleged detentions.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas demanded "clarity on the whereabouts and the release of all political prisoners in Belarus."
"The continued arrests and repression, including and in particular against members of the Coordination Council, are unacceptable," Maas told the Bild daily.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issed a tweet calling out Minsk for "arbitrary arrests and kidnappings," citing the "brutal" treatment of several opposition leaders including Kalesnikava, and demanding an end to such tactics.
Borrell said "arbitrary arrests and kidnappings on political grounds in Belarus," including "brutal actions" against Andrei Yahorau, Iryna Sukhiy, and Maria Kalesnikova, were "unacceptable,"
"State authorities must stop intimidating citizens & violating their own laws and int. obligations," he added.
A spokesman for the European Commission, Peter Stano, said the commission was "deeply concerned about the continued repression and intimidation of the population by unexplained arrests, very often arbitrary arrests, arrests which are motivated politically." He also called the situation "unacceptable."
"What we are witnessing in Belarus is basically continued repression by the authorities against the civilian population," he said.
Lukashenka's leading opponent in the presidential election was political novice Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled into exile in Lithuania days after the August 9 vote.
Reuters quoted her saying that Kalesnikava's abduction looked like authorities were trying to stamp out protest momentum and intimidate the opposition.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius tweeted a call for Kalesnikava's immediate release.
"Instead of talking to the people of #Belarus, the outgoing leadership is trying cynically [to] eliminate [the opposition] one by one," Linkevicius said. "The kidnapping of M.Kalesnikava in downtown of #Minsk is a disgrace. Stalinist NKVD methods are being applied in 21st century’s Europe. She must be released immediately."
Tsikhanouskaya is scheduled to visit Warsaw this week to hold meetings with top Polish officials.
Reuters has quoted three unnamed EU diplomats as saying the bloc will seek to impose economic sanctions on 31 senior Belarusian officials, including Interior Minister Yury Karayeu, by the middle of this month.
Initial approval without specifying who would be targeted, was given in August.
"We initially agreed on 14 names but many states felt that was not sufficient. We have now reached consensus on another 17," one of the diplomatic sources told Reuters. "These are senior officials responsible for the election, for violence, and for the crackdown."
Belarusian officials say Lukashenka won a sixth presidential term with 80 percent of the vote, a number that democracy activists and Tsikhanouskaya dispute.
A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said on September 7 that Lukashenka will visit Russia "within days."
Dmitry Peskov reportedly told TASS that "preparations are in full swing," adding, "Generally speaking, it [the visit] can be expected within days. We will inform you in due time."
