Opposition leader flees Belarus ‘for her children’
Tikhanovskaya says she has left for the sake of her children as violent backlash greets election
BELARUSIAN opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who just days ago announced she had won a presidential election and called for the transition of power, has fled the country after an apparent threat to her children.
Police launched a violent crackdown on protests against the election results on Sunday, which claimed dictator Alexander Lukashenko had won his sixth election with 80 per cent of the vote.
Ms Tikhanovskaya denounced the election as rigged, but yesterday she appeared in neighbouring Lithuania after recording a video urging Belarusians to accept the results.
Campaign staff said Ms Tikhanovskaya made the videos under pressure from the security services.
In the footage, the opposition leader implied she left for the sake of her two children, who she had earlier sent abroad over fears of their safety.
Her husband, Sergei, a would-be candidate who was barred from taking part in the election, is in jail in Belarus.
“I thought that this movement had given me the strength to withstand anything. But perhaps I remain the weak woman that I was at the start,” she said in the clip.
“I made a very difficult decision. I know that many people will understand me, many will condemn me, and many will hate me. But God forbid you ever have to face a choice like I did.
“Children are the most important thing in our lives.”
In another video, in which she appears to be reading from a sheet of paper in the offices of the Belarus Electoral Commission, she said: “With gratitude and warmth, I appeal to all citizens who have supported me all this time. I urge you to be prudent and to respect the law.
“I do not want blood and violence. I ask you not to confront the police and
‘I made a very difficult decision. I know that many people will understand me, many will condemn me’
‘If I was in her shoes I would probably end up doing the same thing’
do not go out to public squares, so as not to put your life in danger.”
Other opposition figures said at a press conference in Minsk that she had been reunited with her children in Lithuania. The Lithuanian foreign minister confirmed that she was “safe” in the country.
Maria Kolesnikova, who formed part of an opposition “troika” of women along with Ms Tikhanovskaya, said the two of them had gone to lodge a complaint with the Electoral Commission along with a lawyer on Sunday.
Only Ms Tikhanovskaya was admitted, and she never reappeared.
“When all of your allies and family are either in jail or under threat, it’s very hard not to be making statements under coercion. If I was in her shoes, I would probably end up doing the same thing,” Ms Kolesnikova said. Others insisted she had never expressed any intention of leaving Belarus.
Protests broke out in Minsk and other cities on Sunday after the results of the vote were announced.
Mr Lukashenko said he would not allow Belarus to be “torn apart” and described the demonstrators as “sheep” who were taking direction from abroad.
Police used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades on protesters as the rallies continued on Monday evening.
Authorities say more than 3,000 people have been detained, while hundreds are being treated for injuries.
One protester was killed in the clashes, and yesterday hundreds turned out to a makeshift memorial at the site of his death.
“Why do these people have to pay with their lives, with their freedom?” asked Anastasia Sukhovarova, a 34-year-old business coach who came to the site to lay flowers.
“I really worry for our young people. Everyone I know is indignant about what’s happening,” said Marina, a 66-year-old municipal employee who declined to give her surname for fear of repercussions.
“These people come out to stand for our rights because we are elderly. The score of 80 per cent, no one believes in this vote count.”
Protests are set to continue despite an internet blackout and the closure of public areas in the centre of Minsk.