Sister of Belarus protest leader Maria Kalesnikava says she's starving in prison

FILE PHOTO: Tatsiana Khomich, sister of imprisoned Belarus opposition leader Maria Kalesnikava, looks on during an interview in Vilnius, Lithuania August 2, 2024. REUTERS/Janis Laizans/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - When Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko used the full force of his security apparatus to smash mass demonstrations in 2020, Maria Kalesnikava became a symbol of the protesters' defiance.

Snatched off the street by masked officers, the opposition campaigner was bundled into a van, driven to the border with Ukraine and threatened with expulsion "alive or in bits".