no-man's land

Tikhanovskaya yesterday posted pictures online appearing to show 69-year-old Mr Statkevich sitting in no man's land at the border.

Mikola Statkevich, a veteran dissident, refused to cross into Lithuania and Belarus's exiled opposition posted pictures of him sitting in no man's land at the border.

After those two days in no man's land - between India and Bangladesh - she says she was taken to what appeared to be an old prison on the Bangladeshi side.

It was only a few days later - when a viral video surfaced of a Bangladeshi journalist interviewing Mr Islam in no man's land - that the family learnt where he was.

"But ultimately you have to go with the integrity of the players. How do you enforce it? It is your word against theirs. You're in no man's land."