Has jailed Belarus protest leader Kolesnikova been taken to intensive care due to torture?

Leading Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova has been transferred to the intensive care unit of a hospital in the southeastern city of Gomel, jailed opposition politician Viktor Babariko's Telegram account said on Tuesday.

The account added that Kolesnikova's lawyer confirmed her hospitalization on Monday. She was first admitted into the surgical ward before being transferred to the intensive care unit.

A leading Belarus opposition figure, Kolesnikova has been held behind bars for over two years.

In 2020, Kolesnikova coordinated Viktor Babariko's campaign in the run-up to Belarus' presidential election. When Babariko, a prominent banker, was arrested on money-laundering charges, Kolesnikova became a key figure in the opposition's Coordination Council.

What happened to Kolesnikova in prison?
The Telegram account did not clarify Kolesnikova's ailment.

However, it said that her lawyer was not allowed to see her on Tuesday, for the third time. Babariko's Telegram account added that before her hospitalization, Kolesnikova was put in a "punishment cell", or solitary confinement, at an unspecified date.

The dissident's lawyer, Vladimir Pylchenko, reportedly addressed his fears for her health to the prosecutor's office, Babariko's Telegram account said, yet he received no response.