Belarusian opposition leader abducted by masked men

Maria Kolesnikova, one of Belarus’ opposition leaders was abducted by a group of masked men and taken away in a van on Monday, allies in the opposition movement said. 

Kolesnikova, a member of the opposition coordination council, is the last of three female politicians left in Belarus who joined forces before an August 9 presidential election to try to challenge veteran incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, a Reuters report reads.

According to a witness, Kolesnikova was pulled into a dark-coloured van in central Minsk and that her mobile was dropped on the ground in the tussle and one of the men picked it up before the van sped off. 

Opposition leaders said that two other activists, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov disappeared soon after—they have said to have crossed the border over to Ukraine. 

Kolesnikova was a vocal critic of Lukashenko and has played an important role in weeks of mass demonstrations and strikes by protesters who accuse Lukashenko of rigging his re-election. Lukashenko who denied charges of rigging the elections has been in power for the last 26 years. He has responded to the protests with a crackdown and has had people detained, where some of the detainees said that there were tortured and being beaten.

Number of protesters in the street swelled to up to 100,000 on Sunday. More people are considering fleeing the country recently in light of threats from law enforcement and a renewed police crackdown against protesters.