A Belarusian prisoner received a letter from a US politician. “I understand you're hurting.”
In his letter, Steve Cohen reports that the US continues to support both Maria Kolesnikova and other political prisoners in Belarus. He points out that they are unjustly imprisoned “for their peaceful beliefs.” He emphasizes that efforts are underway to release further prisoners of Alexander Lukashenko's regime. “I understand that you are suffering from deteriorating health and inhumane conditions such as isolation and lack of contact with the outside world.” – we read in the congressman's letter, quoted by Radio Swoboda.
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Who wrote the letter to Maria Kolesnikova?
Where is Maria Kolesnikova currently?
What support does Steve Cohen offer for Kolesnikova?
What does Steve Cohen say about conditions in the penal colony?
Congressman to an oppositionist: you showed the scale of repression in Belarus
Maria Kolesnikova is a Belarusian flutist, conductor and political activist. During the 2020 elections, she managed the campaign of Belarusian banker and oppositionist Viktor Babaryka. After his arrest, she supported the opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in the presidential elections. She is currently serving an 11-year sentence in the women's penal colony in Gomel. She has been in prison since September 2020, after she was detained after refusing to be forcibly deported to Ukraine.
“We continue to support you and all political prisoners in Belarus who remain unjustly imprisoned for their peaceful beliefs, and we continue to work to ensure your freedom and the freedom of Belarus,” Steve Cohen wrote to Kolesnikova. He also mentioned that he met with her sister, as well as with her supporters in the US – representatives of Freedom House, Amnesty International and the McCain Institute.
“I appreciate your courage, effort and commitment to this work. You have shown the scale of repression in Belarus, supporting our work in Washington and around the world.” – wrote the congressman.
As Radio Swoboda reminds, the same politician was one of the four authors of a recent letter to US Secretary of State Marc Rubio, in which they appealed for caution in US negotiations with Lukashenko on the release of political prisoners. Members of the US Congress also published a list of political prisoners whose release, they stressed, should be a priority in future negotiations.
