#maria kalesnikava

[higherentity]

[carmenvicinanza]

Maria Kalesnikava

https://www.unadonnalgiorno.it/maria-kalesnikava/

Maria Kalesnikava è la musicista diventata il simbolo della resistenza bielorussa.

Nel settembre del 2021 è stata condannata a 11 anni di carcere, per cospirazione contro il regime, perché ha osato sfidare il dittatore Alexander Lukashenko che, nell’estate del 2020, si è dichiarato vincitore senza permettere che venisse terminato lo spoglio e ha cominciato a eliminare, arrestare e reprimere chiunque gli si opponesse.

Maria Kalesnikava è nata il 24 aprile 1982 a Minsk. Si è diplomata all’Accademia Statale Bielorussa di Musica come flautista e direttrice d’orchestra. Ha suonato il flauto nella National Academic Concert Orchestra del suo paese.

Ha conseguito due master all’Università di Stoccarda e organizzato progetti culturali tra Germania e Bielorussia, fondato il collettivo artistico Artemp ed è stata direttrice artistica del club culturale OK16 a Minsk.

Nel 2020 è scesa in campo dopo l’esilio forzato di Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya divenendo la figura dell’opposizione di più alto profilo del paese.Ha condotto numerose proteste di piazza, tutte pacifiche e che hanno visto la partecipazione di decine di migliaia di persone, contenute da agenti di polizia violenti. Ha rilasciato numerose interviste ai media internazionali e continuato a sostenere coloro che avevano subito arresti arbitrari, torture e maltrattamenti durante la detenzione. Diventando, in breve tempo la leader del consiglio di coordinamento dell’opposizione. Il 7 settembre dello stesso anno è stata rapita da uomini mascherati e trascinata in un furgone, insieme ad altri due leader dell’opposizione costretti a lasciare il paese. Maryia Kalesnikava è riuscita a evitare l’espulsione in Ucraina strappando il suo passaporto. Per più di 48 ore le autorità bielorusse non comunicavano la sua posizione.È stata arrestata con l’accusa di minare la sicurezza nazionale, di aver cospirato per prendere il potere con mezzi incostituzionali e aver creato una formazione estremista.Con questa motivazione, il 6 settembre 2021, il tribunale regionale di Minsk l’ha condannata a 11 anni di detenzione in un carcere di massima sicurezza.

Un processo tenutosi in gran fretta perché fungesse da monito per tutte le persone che manifestano, per le quali è diventata un simbolo di resistenza, dignità e coraggio.

Quando ha ricevuto la condanna Maria Kalesnikava aveva unito le mani (con le manette) a formare il cuore, immagine che ha fatto il giro del mondo rendendola la più nota protagonista della resistenza bielorussa.

Da qualche giorno è ricoverata in terapia intensiva, era in isolamento e al suo avvocato non viene permesso di vederla.

Un grave attentato ai diritti umani di una donna che è riuscita a portare l’attenzione mondiale sui soprusi di un governo dittatoriale.

[beardedmrbean]

Maria Kalesnikava became a symbol of defiance in Belarus when President Alexander Lukashenko used the full force of his security apparatus to smash mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2020.

Now she's starving in prison and being held incommunicado in a tiny, stinking cell where the toilet is a hole in the floor, according to her sister, Tatsiana Khomich.

Her weight has dropped to just 99 pounds though she's five foot nine, Khomich said, putting her life at risk.

The Belarus interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment on her conditions.

"During the last year and a half, my sister Maria is isolated. She’s kept incommunicado - there are no calls, there are no letters, no visits of relatives or lawyers. And I just must maybe remind that Maria had surgery at the end of 2022 on a perforated ulcer. So she needs now special diet, special food which she cannot receive actually and we know that she cannot eat much from the prison menu."

Kalesnikava gained further renown when masked officers snatched her from the street to deport her to Ukraine.

She tore her passport into tiny pieces at the border so they couldn't.

At her trial, she smiled and danced in a courtroom cage.

She was sentenced to 11 years on charges including conspiracy to seize power.

Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied this week that there are political prisoners in Belarus.

Since early July, he has released 78 people convicted for protest activity, out of around 1,400 designated by human rights groups as political prisoners.

But all the leading pro-democracy figures, like Kalesnikava, languish behind bars and Lukashenko's critics say they see no real change.

Khomich said Kalesnikava was last allowed to write to her family in February last year.

"She also asked about letters and packages, the answer she got was, like, ‘Everyone has forgotten about you’. We know that also that some women saw that the administration brought her some letters from outside but they didn’t give it to her, they just tore it up in front of Maria."

"They torture her, basically. It's psychological, but also physical torture as well."

For Lukashenko the mass demonstrations of 2020, triggered by an election that the opposition and the West accused him of stealing, marked a watershed in three decades of authoritarian rule.

Some analysts believe that by crushing them, he burned bridges with the West and became beholden to Putin – a dependence they say could be making him uneasy, and prompting the so-far limited prisoner releases.

[alaturkanews]

Starved and excommunicated: What is happening to Belarusian political prisoner Maria Kalesnikava?

The red-lipped, white-haired, leather-jacketed Maria Kalesnikava cuts a memorable figure in old photographs, resembling a punkish Marilyn Monroe.  Instead of finding fame over a subway grate, however, the Belarusian-born flautist and political activist garnered a reputation both in orchestras abroad and on the picket line at home, attempting to fight for fair and equitable elections in her native…

[mariacallous]

The Belarusian politician Valery Tsepkalo (also spelled “Tsapkala”) has been sentenced to 17 years in a high-security penal colony. A Minsk court tried him in absentia.

Charges against Tsepkalo included nine different kinds of felony, including calls to seize state power, creating and financing an extremist organization, and defamation of the current president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Tsepkalo had planned to run for president of Belarus in 2020. When the election authority refused to register him as a candidate, he left the country, fearing arrest.

Tsepkalo’s spouse, Veronika Tsepkalo, then formed a “women’s triumvirate” together with the politicians Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Maria Kalesnikava. After the failed election, Tsikhanouskaya was forced to leave the country, and Kalesnikava was arrested and later went to prison.

Earlier this year, a Belarusian court sentenced Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years, also in absentia.

[floweryavenue]

I don't see this topic being discussed at all on Tumblr lately, which is a shame. I think it is important and should be reminded of, especially by the feminist community here. Today, on July 16, the first anniversary of three strong, wonderful and courageous women uniting to overthrow the 26-year-old authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko, is a day of solidarity with women in Belarus. One year later, the situation is as follows, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the actual winner of the presidential elections, has to go into hiding abroad, her husband is a political prisoner, Maria Kalesnikava too. Many political prisoners in Belarus are women. Please do not forget Belarus in your thoughts and prayers because, as it turns out, democracy in 21st century Europe is not so obvious.

[jrljohnsonsrussialist]

JRL NEWSBLOG: “Belarus Opposition Seeks to Reassure Russia as Strikes Go On” – Bloomberg/ Aliaksandr Kudrytski "Opposition leaders in Belarus are seeking to reassure Russia about future relations as the biggest challenge to ...

[chiefavenueglitter]

Caption Below Cut

Today in Belarus, September 7th, 2020

Opposition leader kidnapped Coordination Council member Maria Kalesnikava was kidnapped in Minsk today by ununiformed men. Her whereabouts are currently unknown. Lifeguards arrested Water rescue workers who assisted demonstrators in Minsk yesterday are being interrogated. Protestors jumped into the Svisloch river to escape police. Inflation In August, Belarus’s gold reserve decreased by about 16% in an attempt to prevent inflation. Further economic turmoil is expected.

Photo is a close-up shot of Kalesnikava speaking last month at a Coordination Council meeting. She has a blonde pixie cut and wears bright red lipstick.

[higherentity]

[falllingthroughspace]

I find it incredibly funny that because Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenka is such a sexist, the faces of hope and change right now look like this:

The woman on the left is Maria Kalesnikava, the member of Viktar Babaryka presidential campaign. Babaryka was the most popular presidential candidate, and was not registered because Lukashenka was afraid of him. He and his son got jailed a month ago on made-up charges.

The woman on the right is Veranika Tsapkala. Her husband, Valery Tsapkala, was the second most popular candidate. The election committee threw away half of the signatures for his candidacy so that they could have a reason not to register him. 

The woman in the centre is Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Her husband is a popular opposition blogger, and decided to run for president to urge people to boycott the election. A lot of people rallied in his support, which made the President angry, so he jailed him on made-up charges. When that happened, Sviatlana became a candidate instead. She almost dropped out, because she received threats that her kids will be taken from her if she continues what her husband has started. However, she got registered as a candidate.She had to get her kids out of the country so that they could be safe while she runs for president.

President Lukashenka says that a woman cannot be a president, that the constitution is not written for a woman. He says that only a man who has served in an army can be become president. He underestimates women, allowing Tsikhanouskaya to register as a candidate, thinking that she could be bullied into silence and wouldn’t be a threat. But he was wrong.

These three women united together, and work together to get Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya elected. More than that, they united most of Belorussians together, they give us hope and a plan of action to get rid of the dictatorship we’ve been dealing with for 26 years. And now Sviatlana, a mother of two, a former teacher, a woman without any political experience or money or good marketing team, is the most popular opposition candidate we’ve had in years. 

A woman's place is in the resistance indeed. 

[dermontag]

Belarus-Aktivistinnen geehrt Karlspreis für "mutigste Frauen Europas" 26.05.2022, 14:38 Uhr Sie sind die Gesichter der belarussischen Demokratiebewegung: Maria Kalesnikava, Veronica Tsepkalo und Swetlana Tichanowskaja werden in Aachen für ihren Mut im Kampf gegen Machthaber Lukaschenko geehrt. Bundesaußenministerin Baerbock zollt ihnen tiefen Respekt - und appelliert an Europa. Die belarussischen Aktivistinnen Maria Kalesnikava, Swetlana Tichanowskaja und Veronica Tsepkalo sind in diesem Jahr mit dem Internationalen Karlspreis zu Aachen für ihre Verdienste für die Einheit Europas ausgezeichnet worden. Das Direktorium der Karlspreis-Gesellschaft würdigte damit "die drei Leitfiguren der belarussischen demokratischen Bewegung". In ihrer Laudatio bezeichnete Bundesaußenministerin Annalena Baerbock die Preisträgerinnen als "die mutigsten Frauen Europas". Die 40 Jahre alte Kalesnikava verbüßt wegen ihres Protests gegen das Regime von Machthaber Alexander Lukaschenko derzeit eine elfjährige Haftstrafe, die 39-jährige Tichanowskaja und die 45 Jahre alte Tsepkalo sind im Exil. Tichanowskaja und Tsepkalo waren bei der Preisverleihung in Aachen anwesend, für Kalesnikava nahm deren Schwester die Auszeichnung entgegen. "Ihr seid für Millionen Frauen auf der Welt ein Vorbild", sagte Baerbock. "Euer Mut lässt sich nicht wegsperren. Die Idee der Freiheit kann man nicht ins Exil vertreiben. Das ist die Botschaft des diesjährigen Karls-Preises", sagte die Ministerin. Würdigung für Einsatz gegen brutale staatliche Willkür "Und es ist eine Mahnung an uns: Denn warme Worte reichen nicht aus." Die Regierungen im mit Russland verbündeten Belarus, aber auch in Moskau stellten sich "mit menschenverachtendem Zynismus gegen all das, was uns in Europa ausmacht, all das, wofür Ihr drei kämpft: Frieden, Freiheit, Demokratie und Menschenrechte", sagte Baerbock. "Wir stehen an Eurer Seite. Wir hören Euch. Und wir haben euch nicht vergessen", betonte die Ministerin und fügte hinzu: "Wir werden in Zukunft noch kritischer hinschauen, noch entschiedener handeln müssen, wenn unsere Werte und unsere Freiheit angegriffen werden." In der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2020 war Belarus von Massenprotesten gegen Lukaschenko und dessen umstrittene Wiederwahl erschüttert worden, die der Präsident mit Rückendeckung Russlands niederschlagen ließ. Tausende Menschen wurden wegen ihrer Proteste gegen das Regime verhaftet. "Und es sind vor allem drei mutige Frauen, die der Verfolgung und den Repressionen zum Trotz diesen Stimmen Gesicht gegeben haben und geben", schrieb das Karlspreis-Direktorium. Sie erhielten den Preis "in Würdigung ihres mutigen und ermutigenden Einsatzes gegen die brutale staatliche Willkür, Folter, Unterdrückung und die Verletzung elementarer Menschenrechte durch ein autoritäres Regime".

[berndsx4]

Tweet von Maria Kalesnikava (@by_kalesnikava)

Maria Kalesnikava (@by_kalesnikava) Tweeted:

Today, behind closed doors, the Supreme Court is considering the appeals of Maria Kalesnikava, Maxim Znak and their defence against the sentence. We are grateful to representatives of the embassies and everyone who came to support their relatives. https://t.co/ephn8ohEw1 https://twitter.com/by_kalesnikava/status/1474306062727761933?s=20

[dispatchesfrom2020]

2020

Week 37: September 7-13

7: German doctors report that Aleksei Navalny, a Russian dissident who was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent, has regained consciousness. In Belarus, meanwhile, there are reports that masked men kidnapped the opposition’s campaign manager, Maria Kalesnikava. In the Phillipines, President Rodrigo Duterte pardons Joseph Pemberton, a United States marine charged with the murder of Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman killed in 2015. It’s a blow to transpeople and their allies - and a move condemned by Laude’s grieving family. In Washington state, a massive wildfire is eating through 300,000 acres in a single day as high-winds whip the blaze into a frenzy. It completely flattens the village of Malden, a sleepy hamlet a few clicks south of Spokane.

From Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s campaign for president, to the female organizers and protesters, Belarussian women are leading the opposition. Knowing the security forces will be gentler on women, they help shield male protesters. Women, here, link arms as they demonstrate their support for Maria Kolesnikova, the musician-turned-campaign manager who ran Tsikhanouskaya’s run for president - Yauhen Yerchak—EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

8: Trump is floundering after an article in The Atlantic accuses the president of mocking American war dead. The piece details Trump’s long history of disrespecting military servicemen including his high-profile criticism of John McCain, who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and George H. W. Bush, who was shot down by the Japanese during World War II. The Atlantic revealed that Trump refused to attend the Aisne-Marne American cemetery near Paris because of the rain, asking “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” The article recounts an incident involve General John Kelly, then Director of Homeland Security, during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. While standing over the grave of Kelly’s son Robert, who died in Afghanistan in 2010, Trump expressed credulity about why people would choose to join the military, saying “I don’t get it? What was in it for them”. In a press conference, Trump blames the pentagon for the rumours, accusing them of tarnishing his reputation because he put an end to their war-profiteering. His attacks were likely motivated by their unusual silence in the wake of the article - which, of course, only helped fuel the story.

In Central Point, cots are placed 6 feet apart for people forced to evacuate their homes because of Oregon’s wildfires - Alisha Jucevic/The New York Times

9: Three large fires, sparked during August lightning storms, have been slowly simmering in Oregon’s lush old-growth forests. As high-speed winds whip the fires into a frenzy, they explode in size, racing west towards the city of Salem. The fires merge into the Santiam megafire, which destroy 1500 buildings. The evacuated towns of Detroit and Gates are virtually obliterated while Idanha, Mill City, and Lyons sustain extensive fire damage. Four people are killed including a 13-year-old boy and his grandmother. 

Tapes of Bob Woodward’s interviews with Donald Trump, published by the Washington Post, reveal the President knowingly downplayed the threat of the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic. While Trump spent March publicly denouncing Democrats’ worries over the virus and calling COVID-19 their “new hoax”, he privately admitted to Woodward it was “deadly stuff”. Woodward, an acclaimed investigative journalist, is best known for his role in helping expose Watergate and bring down Nixon’s White House. So he’s exactly who you want to be chatting to while fucking up a global pandemic response.

Nearly a third of residents at the Moria refugee camp are children - Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press

10: Kiribati pre-emptively decides to keep its borders closed for the rest of the year - with the exception of a few select repatriation flights. They are one of only a handful of countries in the world untouched by the virus. The leaders of France and Germany agree to accept 400 unaccompanied minors after a fire destroys the facility used to house these children at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Moria is the largest refugee camp in Europe and is home to 12,000 asylum-seekers. In 2018, a Doctors without Borders coordinator called it the worst refugee camp on earth. 

11: Friday’s light on news - aside from insurgency in Somalia and Afghanistan, a massive mine-collapse in the Congo, and a Filipino stimulus package. So I’m going to circle back to a story I missed early this week: a whistleblower complaint from Brian Murphy, the former head of intelligence for Homeland Security. Murphy alleges that he was instructed to downplay threats from white nationalism and cease his assessments of Russian election interference. His lawyer claims he was asked to spin intelligence to appease the president and make him look good. In Vancouver, the air quality is now the worst in the world, clogged with ash and soot from Washington’s raging wildfires. Sitting in a park in Deep Cove, celebrating Eliana’s bachelorette party with your customary dick balloons and afternoon champagne, I watched as an outcropping of rocks in the bay slowly faded from visibility amid the rising haze.

Dora Negrete and her son Hector Rocha mourn the loss of their home in Talent Oregon, September 10. The streets of their former neighbourhood are thick with red flame retardant - Paula Bronstein/AP

12: JK Rowling is trending on twitter. She’s spent the year slowly dismantling her legacy by posting anti-trans tweets. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for a generation of readers who grew up reading about a magical orphan named Harry who overcame great obstacles and found a place to belong. It’s the day of Eliana’s wedding - it’s just a small gathering for the already-once-postponed ceremony. It’s silly, but after so many months of feeling cut off from the world, it feels good to have something to celebrate.

13: I luxuriate in bed with enough room service that the kitchen sent up two sets of cutlery. Security forces in Belarus seal off Independence Square in Minsk, as protesters gather to demand the resignation of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. At least 250 demonstrators are arrested.