Kaleśnikava had peritonitis, father says

December 6, BPN. Maryja Kaleśnikava was hospitalized with peritonitis, a complication of a perforated ulcer, the imprisoned opposition politician told her father Alaksandr Kaleśnikaŭ during their 10-minute meeting.

She was hospitalized in a serious condition on November 28. She asked doctors for permission to contact her father, but they persuaded her to give her consent to surgery immediately, Viktar Babaryka’s campaign reported.

Kaleśnikava had asked the prison administration to inform her father about her health, but it was not until he visited her after surgery at the prison’s medical ward that he found out the diagnosis.

Kaleśnikava had a laparoscopy with a small incision and is healing well, Babaryka’s team said. On the weekend, authorities transferred her to the medical ward of Homiel’s Penal Colony No 4. Doctors say that it is equipped for all necessary post-surgery procedures. The prison administration promised to adjust her diet.

In 2020, musician Maryja Kaleśnikava was Babaryka’s campaign manager. Police arrested her in September 2020 and tried to force her to leave Belarus, but she refused. One year later, a judge sentenced her to 11 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to seize power.