These three women stood up to Europe's longest-serving dictator. Here's what happened to them
Five weeks have passed since Belarus learned the results of its presidential election, in which the country's Central Election Commission announced that President Alexander Lukashenko, often described as Europe's last dictator, had won with 80.23% of the vote. In the weeks that have followed, the country has seen mass protests from citizens who believe the vote was rigged, violent police crackdowns on those protestors and, possibly most disturbingly, three high-profile opposition figures -- all of whom are women -- have disappeared from public view or fled Belarus.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Veronika Tsepkalo and Maria Kolesnikova. CNN
Belarusian state media said on Tuesday that Maria Kolesnikova, a key opposition figure, had been detained on the Belarusian side of the border between Ukraine and Belarus. The statement was made by Belarusian Border Control, and aired on state TV. "The disappearance of the candidates demonstrates beyond all doubt the brutality of this regime and how important it is that the international community doesn't lose interest in the appalling events that have unfolded since the election," Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the UK's Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told CNN....
