Tikhanovskaja forced to flee to Lithuania

The Belarusian authorities allegedly forced her to leave as a condition to free some of her staff members from prison. According to the KGB, she suffered threats and an attempted attack, in search of a "sacrificial victim". Lukashenko blessed by Patriarch Kirill. But Orthodox and Catholic priests are together with the demonstrators. Risk of another Majdan.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Svetlana Tikhanovskaja, the opposition candidate in the presidential elections in Belarus, officially won by the "eternal" president Aleksandr Lukashenko, has been forced to leave the country and seems to have taken refuge in Lithuania. On her husband Sergej Tikhanovski's YouTube channel, she read an obviously imposed message (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DzisJ388Xs&feature=youtu.be ), in which she states that " I thought that this whole campaign had hardened me and given me so much strength that I could hold up against anything, but I’m probably still the weak woman I was at the start nor I husband Sergej have had any influence ”.

Tikhanovskaja would have decided to leave Belarus because “no life is worth what is happening. Children are the most important thing in our life”. Her collaborator Olga Kovalkova said that it was the Belarusian authorities who forced Tikhanovskaya to leave, as a condition of freeing one of her staff chiefs, Maria Moroz, from prison. Both Tikhanovskaja and Moroz would be in Lithuania. According to Kovalkova, Tikhanovskaja would be left with no other choice: "She is alive and free today, but a large part of her team continues to be held hostage," she told the Tut.by agency.

Kovalkova added that the main commitment of the supporters of Tikhanovskaya is the defense of freedom of choice, together with the cessation of bloodshed: "Now the situation is critical, and however difficult it is for us, we must in every way reject the violence and defend our victory legally, in peaceful ways. We call upon all democratic forces and the advocates of change to come together. Starting today, we will hold extraordinary consultations to understand how to best act ”.

The head of the KGB of Belarus, Valerij Vakulchuk, said that the security services (which have not changed their initials since Soviet times) have foiled an alert against Svetlana Tikhanovskaja, according to information from her own staff, who spoke of the "need for a sacrificial victim” in favor of the revolutionary uprisings.

There was a second night of street riots following the August 9 elections, in which another demonstrator allegedly lost his life. The processions moved following surprise itineraries, to confuse the police. The center of Minsk remained under police control, while unrest increased in suburban neighborhoods, where Molotov cocktails were also reported. One of these would have exploded in the hands of one of the demonstrators, who later died. The special forces would have chased various groups of demonstrators with explosives and grenades, and also reportedly shooting at point blank range. There were widespread reports of damage in various parts of the capital. Journalist Natalia Lubnevskaya, from Nasha Niva, was injured in the knee with a rubber bullet. The protests continued until 4 am.

It is highly possible that the conflict will degenerate. Moreover, the demonstrations could continue in the next few days until a possible general strike, already announced by several supporters of Tikhanovskaja, thus Belarus could repeat the Ukrainian experience of the 2013 Majdan uprising.

Several priests, both Orthodox and Catholic, were also seen in the squares. in support of the demonstrators, even if the leaders of the Churches have so far not taken an official position on the post-electoral chaos. Moscow Patriarch Kirill (Gundjaev) was alone in his congratulation of Lukashenko on his victory in the elections.

Lukashenko seems aware of the fact that everything is at stake; if he were to step down, he would end up in court facing a very long list of charges. The fear is that he could seek military help from Putin, in a scenario that would belong to the past century; It is no coincidence that demonstrations in support of the Belarusian protests were held in various cities of Russia. Several European countries (Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic and Poland) have declared the elections in Belarus "undemocratic" and are calling for an emergency meeting of the European Council.

• russia
• belarus
• economy
• elections
• dictatorship
• eternal leaders
• vladimir putin
• alexandr lukashenko
• minsk
• protests
• svetlana tikhanovskaja
• escape
• majdan