Belarus' opposition says 3 members abducted amid police crackdown

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A day after police arrested hundreds of protesters demonstrating against Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, the opposition coordination council said three of its members have been abducted.

The Belarusian Coordination Council said in a statement that Maria Kolesnikova, a member of its executive council; Anton Rodnenkov, its press secretary; and Ivan Kravtsov, its executive secretary, were all abducted by "unknown people in the center of Minsk."

The country's capital has been beleaguered with protests since Aug. 9 in opposition to Lukashenko's landslide victory to a 6th term in office, with demonstrators accusing the election of being rigged.

Election officials said Lukashenko had secured 80% of the vote to opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's less than 10%. Tikhanovskaya, who is in exile in neighboring Lithuania, has rejected the results as have many democratic countries, including Germany, Britain and the European Union.

Kolesnikova was the last of three female activists who created the Belarusian Coordination Council to remain in the country after Tikhanovskaya and Vernokix Tsepkalo fled following the election.

Police said they do not have information concerning the missing council members, Radio Free Europe reported.

"It's obvious that these methods are illegal and cannot lead to anything else apart from an escalation in the situation in the country, deepening the crisis and fueling protests," the council said in its statement.

Earlier on Monday, Belarus' interior ministry said police arrested at least 633 people during Sunday's protest seeking to oust Lukashenko.

Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, condemned the "arbitrary arrests and kidnappings" in Belarus, demanding that all those who have been detained, including Kolesnikova, Rornenkov and Kravtsov, be released, threatening to impose sanctions upon those responsible.

"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," Borrell said in a statement. "We expect the authorities to stop political persecution and engage in an inclusive national dialogue, in full respect of the Belarusian people's democratic and fundamental rights."

Linas Linkevicius, the foreign affairs minister of Lithuania, called for Kolesnikova to be released and accused the government of using Stalinist security agency methods to kidnap her.

"Instead of talking to the people of Belarus, the outgoing leadership is trying cynically [to] eliminate [the opposition] one by one," he tweeted. "The kidnapping of M. Kolesnikova in downtown of Minsk is a disgrace."

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary for Britain, said they are "seriously concerned" about Kolesnikova's welfare.

"Lukashenko's regime must make her safe return their highest priority," he said in a statement. "The regime must cease brutalizing protesters, release political prisoners and begin dialogue with the opposition."

Germany also said it was concerned and was working with the EU on a sanctions package to punish the Lukashenko regime.

"If Lukashenko doesn't change course, we will react," Heiko Maas, Germany's foreign minister, said in a tweet.