UPDATED FEMEN activists kidnapped, assaulted in Belarus

Okay, so this is scary:

“ATTENTION! HELP! Since 5 PM CET four FEMEN activists are missing in Belarus. Their phones have been disabled. The missing participants are Inna Shevchenko, Oksana Shachko, Alexandra Nemchinova. We appeal to all for help to get any information on the whereabouts of our activists. We ask users of LJ and Facebook to circulate information on the disappearance of the girls.”

While FEMEN are used to being arrested, in Ukraine they are usually just booked and released. Following a protest in Minsk, Balarus, however, shit appears to have gotten serious. They previously reported that Australian journalist Kitty Green, who was along to document their latest protest, had been detained by police. Now it seems that the protesters themselves — including well-known spokesperson Inna Shevchenko — have also been rounded up.

This is pretty scary stuff. According to Wikipedia Belorussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has been accused of the abduction, unlawful detainment and torture of a prominent American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser and his assistant and free-lance journalist Vladlena Funk during the US - Belarus hostage crisis in 2008-2009. Also, “Belarus has been repeatedly determined to be a habitual violator of international laws of human rights and universally accepted norms of international behaviour by the UN, US, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. “ Amnesty International’s 2011 report on the country’s human rights record also makes for some terrifying reading.

FEMEN were in Belarus to protest Mr. Lukashenko’s dictatorial regime. They did this in typical theatrical style, with one topless protester donning a Lukashenko mask. See their protest after the break. And if you have any information about their whereabouts or welfare, contact .

FEMEN против КГБатьки from FEMEN Video on Vimeo.

UPDATE (from FEMEN): “Inna called and told us that the girls were kidnapped, eyes fastened the night they drove somewhere, dumped in the woods, forced to undress, spilled oil, threatened to burn, threatened to kill with a knife, hair cut with a knife, took the clothes and documents, left in the woods, girls came to the village on foot.”

UPDATE 2 (via Mizozo): They are home.

At least they’re OK.

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