Belarus opposition figure says authorities threatened to kill her

Maria Kolesnikova says she was told she would be leaving country ‘alive or in bits’

Maria Kolesnikova, the Belarusian opposition politician who ripped up her passport to avoid forcible deportation earlier this week, said on Thursday that security officers put a bag over her head and threatened to kill her in response.

Kolesnikova, a trained flautist and music teacher who has emerged as one of the most prominent figureheads of protests against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, said she was told by security officers that she would be removed from Belarus “alive or in bits” after she thwarted their plan to dump her in Ukraine by tearing up her passport at the border.

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