Belarusian opposition group's chairwoman Melnikava reported missing
Anzhalika Melnikava, the speaker of the Belarusian Coordination Council, disappeared on March 25, and there has been no contact with her since, the council reported on March 28.
Polish authorities have been notified of Melnikava's disappearance and are working to establish her whereabouts in cooperation with the council and foreign governments.
The Coordination Council is a body of the Belarusian opposition-in-exile established by opposition leader and presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in August 2020 after the state-backed electoral fraud and a crackdown on subsequent protests.
"We hope for the best, but we understand that representatives of Belarusian democratic forces remain priority targets of security services of the Belarusian and Russian regimes," the council said on Telegram.
The Polish Interior Ministry said Melnikava had been outside Poland for many weeks. Independent outlet Nasha Niva reported that the speaker flew to the U.K. without informing anyone of her plans. The whereabouts of her two daughters, aged 6 and 12, are also reportedly unknown.
The speaker's duties will be temporarily carried out by Deputy Speaker Stasia Hlinnik.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, recently inaugurated into his seventh term in presidential office after holding power since 1994, has solidified his rule through sham elections and mass repression of independent media, civil society, and political opposition.
The Belarusian secret police, the KGB, is believed to be closely monitoring opposition members who have fled abroad. Lukashenko's agents are also suspected of being behind the murders of Belarusian activist Vital Shyshou in 2021 and journalist Pavel Sharamet in 2016 in Kyiv.
Kateryna Denisova
