Latushka on Melnikava: I remember when she called me practically at night, somewhere around midnight, and just cried because she didn't know what to do

Pavel Latushka said he received a response from the Department for Combating Organized Crime of the National Prosecutor's Office of Poland regarding the progress of the investigation into Anzhalika Melnikava's disappearance.

The letter contains assurances that both the prosecutor's office and the Internal Security Agency of Poland are taking all necessary actions to determine Anzhalika Melnikava's current whereabouts and to ascertain the reasons for her sudden cessation of contact with loved ones on the territory of Poland.

"Anzhalika Melnikava is an aggrieved person in this situation, so our actions are aimed at questioning her about what caused her departure from Poland and what actions were taken against her before her departure to Poland," Latushka quoted from the letter from the Polish prosecutor's office.

According to the politician, the prosecutor's office considers Anzhalika Melnikava a victim, an aggrieved person in this context, and states that she was forced to leave the territory of Poland. This is the official version. Latushka noted that this corresponds to Article 130 of the Polish Criminal Code, which describes the situation of intentional violent deprivation of a person's freedom.

Facts in defense of Melnikava

According to Pavel Latushka, to avoid speculation, several facts about Anzhalika Melnikava's activities should be understood today. He noted that Melnikava was a participant in two initiatives — the National Anti-Crisis Management and Cyberpartisans, and also held the position of head of the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition.

Latushka emphasized that during her leadership of the Coordination Council, her public actions must be taken into account. As an example, he cited a meeting dedicated to the responsibility of Alyaksandr Lukashenka for crimes against the Belarusian people and Ukraine, which took place in January 2025 and was related to the topic of the International Criminal Court.

According to Latushka, this meeting of the Coordination Council took place under difficult conditions. The day before, the American side stopped funding, which jeopardized the holding of open hearings and could have led to their disruption.

"I remember when she called me practically at night, somewhere around midnight, and just cried because she didn't know what to do, because she had to confirm tickets, hotels, rent, and so on. But she said: 'I will pay with my own money.' And I know for sure that she spent part of the funds for this meeting from her own money. And this meeting adopted a resolution on Lukashenka's responsibility, including for crimes against humanity, which the International Criminal Court is currently dealing with. And this resolution went to all European parliaments of the member states of the International Criminal Court," says Pavel Latushka.

Speech at PACE

The second fact the politician recalled about Anzhalika Melnikava occurred during her speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

"The first time our delegation was sitting on the political committee, and she asked me: 'Pavel Pavlovich, should I submit an amendment here?' It concerned the recognition of the Coordination Council. I said: 'Anzhalika, honestly, I don't know, this is our first time participating: can we raise our hand now and say something?' She didn't raise her hand, that was my fault. She ran to the deputies who have long been PACE members, and later she submitted this amendment, collecting signatures. And this amendment passed," the politician recalls.

He added that, speaking at the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Melnikava called for not recognizing the 2025 elections, recognizing the Coordination Council, the United Transitional Cabinet, and Tsikhanouskaya's Office as institutions of democratic forces, and holding Lukashenka accountable. And this was included in the final resolution.

In addition, Latushka reminded that Melnikava was the head of the Cyberpartisans foundation, an organization that inflicted damage on the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. She was also part of NAU, which dealt with sanctions and international responsibility of the Lukashenka regime. All this could have attracted the interest of special services.

Latushka also recalled that Melnikava underwent checks by organizations such as BELPOL and Cyberpartisans, and since she was a Polish citizen, she was also checked by the Polish ABW, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Border Guard Service.

"These are precise facts. Everything else is speculation. To say that such a person could work for special services? Possible. But unlikely: too much damage was inflicted on the Lukashenka regime. Could she have fallen into this honey trap? Possibly. Theoretically, they [special services] could have [arranged it]. We also had information that she was forced to commit criminal acts, I would say, against members of the National Anti-Crisis Management team. And they started forcing her. And this could have been the reason for her disappearance," Latushka said, noting during the conversation that Melnikava refused to implement such a "proposal" from the special services.

Pavel Latushka also emphasized that as of today, Anzhalika Melnikava's whereabouts have not been established.

"I can say, non-procedurally, that I received information that the children are on the territory of Belarus. Where she is located – her whereabouts have not been established, and I also know, non-procedurally, that she is not with her children," the politician shared the details.

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Coordination Council speaker Anzhalika Melnikava left the territory of Poland and the European Union on February 26, 2025, and flew to London. According to investigators, the day before her departure, she booked a room in a five-star hotel in Sri Lanka, where she had been before. From February 28 to March 7, Melnikava lived in that hotel with her children. On March 7, Melnikava and her children flew to Dubai, where her trail is lost. On March 25, she stopped making contact.

The Coordination Council stated that on March 13, documents related to the organization's work were downloaded from her account.

In the same month, according to "Cyberpartisans," Melnikava transferred over 150,000 dollars from the funds of the Białoruś Liberty foundation to her personal account. It is also known that before her disappearance, she flew to Cuba and Sri Lanka with Aliaksei Labeyeu, an employee of Lukashenka's special services.

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