Kalesnikava recounted what happened when she tore her passport at the border
"I didn't see their facial expressions; they were wearing masks. But they didn't immediately understand why, probably, it wasn't working."
Photo: LookByMedia
Maria Kalesnikava, in an interview with DW Belarus, recalled how in September 2020, when they tried to forcibly remove her from Belarus to Ukraine, she tore her passport.
She recounted how she showed the security forces her torn passport.
"I told them, you see, the passport is torn, I cannot leave the territory of Belarus right now. Because with a torn passport, no one can accept me anywhere.
I didn't see their facial expressions; they were wearing masks. But they didn't immediately understand why, probably, it wasn't working. I even jumped out of the carâ¦
At some point, they realized that I was indeed not just insisting that I wanted to stay in my country."
Kalesnikava says that she spent the whole day convincing the security forces that she did not want to leave.
"And at that moment, when it didn't work, I had to tear up my passport. And they also didn't immediately understand that it wasn't the end yet. As a result, I ended up in the minibus again, and well, you already know the rest."
She describes her emotions that day as "very strange."
"It's not every day you tear up your passport and jump out of a car, I want to tell you. And several times. Emotions... Well, it was all like in a movie. I still don't even believe, probably, that I did it myself, but I did it," Kalesnikava said.
Recall that Kalesnikava was detained on September 7, 2020. On the same day, Ivan Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov were detained. The latter were taken in minibuses to the border between Belarus and Ukraine, and on neutral territory, they were transferred to Kravtsov's car. Kalesnikava was then forcibly put into the same car. When she saw her passport, she tore it into small pieces and threw it out the window. After that, Kalesnikava climbed out of the car through the window.
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