Maria Kolesnikova, a Belarusian protest leader, says she was threatened with death by security officers whom she says tried to forcibly expel her earlier this week.
Lucy Fielder reports.
Belarus protest leader says threatened with death
Belarus protest leader Maria Kolesnikova says security officers threatened to expel her 'alive or in bits' when they tried to forcibly deport her to Ukraine earlier this week.
That's according to a statement filed by her lawyer on Thursday (September 10).
Kolesnikova is one of the most prominent critics of President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election last month -- among those spearheading protests since then.
She said in the statement that she genuinely feared for her life, and that the security officers, who put a bag over her head, also threatened her with up to 25 years in jail.
She prevented the expulsion attempt by tearing up her passport at the border, so that Ukraine couldn't allow her to cross.
She's now in detention in Minsk.
Meanwhile, this is the moment masked men broke into the office of Victor Babariko, a jailed opposition figure, on Wednesday.
Lukashenko has cracked down on the opposition over the past month and nearly all of its leaders have been arrested or expelled, or have fled.
In power since 1994, the Belarusian president denies rigging his landslide win in the August election.
He conceded this week that he might have stayed on too long, but also said he was the only person capable of protecting the country for now.