Ailing and silenced in prison, Belarus activist symbolizes the nation's repression
Voice of America
FILE – Belarus opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova gestures on the way to the Belarusian Investigative Committee in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 27, 2020.
The last time any of Maria Kolesnikova's family had contact with the imprisoned Belarusian opposition activist was more than 18 months ago. Fellow inmates at the penal colony reported hearing her plead for medical help from inside her tiny, smelly cell.
FILE - Calin Georgescu and his wife Cristela Georgescu arrive at the Central Electoral Bureau where Georgescu submitted his candidacy for the May presidential ballot re-run, in Bucharest, March 7, 2025. Inquam (Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via Reuters)
Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte speaks inside the Southorn Stadium during a thanksgiving gathering organized by Hong Kong-based Filipino workers for the former populist president in Hong Kong on Sunday, March 9, 2025.
Painters apply liquid-applied membrane coating that, according to the authorities, helps bring down the temperature inside the shanties at a slum in Ahmedabad, India, Jan. 30, 2025.
FILE - A Philippines coast guard member looks at the Chinese Coast Guard vessel as they come close during a mission to deliver provisions at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on November 10, 2023.
FILE - Student activist Mahmoud Khalil speaks at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York City, April 29, 2024.
FILE - French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Feb. 13, 2025.
People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centers, sit with their faces masked while in detention after being released from the centers in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar, Feb. 26, 2025. A sign near military checkpoint warns in Thai, English and Chinese of the danger of being trafficked and forced to work in locked scam compounds across the Myanmar border, in Mae Sot, Thailand, Feb. 26, 2025. Thai soldiers provide security for Indonesian nationals being sent home after being forced to work at scam centers in eastern Myanmar in Mae Sot, Thailand on Feb. 27, 2025. People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centers, sit with their faces masked while in detention after being released from the centers in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar, Feb. 26, 2025. FILE - Alleged scam center workers and victims from China handed over from Myanmar board a plane at Mae Sot Airport in Mae Sot in Thailand's Tak province on Feb. 20, 2025.
FILE - Motorcyclists look at military uniforms from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo lying on the ground, amid clashes between them and the M23 rebels, in Goma, eastern DRC, Jan. 30, 2025.
People gather for a rally called for by Syrian activists and civil society representatives "to mourn for the civilian and security personnel casualties", at al-Marjeh square in Damascus on March 9, 2025.
FILE - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, right, and Vice President Riek Machar attend a Holy Mass led by Pope Francis at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan, Feb. 5, 2023.
Supporters gather to welcome Nepal's former King Gyanendra Shah upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 9, 2025.
FILE - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends an interview at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Feb. 18, 2025. He will arrive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday for U.S.-Ukraine talks.
Firefighters put out the fire following a Russian rocket attack in Dobropillya, Donetsk region, Ukraine, March 8, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP) FILE - In this image from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Oct. 17, 2024, a Russian soldier fires a gun toward a Ukrainian position in the Russian-Ukrainian border area in the Kursk region, Russia.