(United Nations) Belarusian opponent in exile Svetlana Tikhanovskaya urged leaders on Tuesday not to forget her country, fearing that Belarus, diplomatically isolated, would become a “consolation prize” for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the context of the war in Ukraine.
“I ask our partners and allies to keep Belarus on the agenda,” she declared in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“It is crucial that Belarus is the subject of discussions and that, in our region, it is not left to [président russe Vladimir] Putin as a consolation prize,” she added.
Aged 41, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential elections, has been living in exile in Lithuania since the authorities launched a violent crackdown against demonstrators contesting the results of the vote.
Mr. Lukashenko played a considerable role in Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, allowing Moscow to launch attacks from its territory, harboring Russian nuclear weapons and members of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.
Political prisoners
“It is also a threat to regional security, a threat to our neighbors with the deployment of nuclear weapons, the deployment of Russian military forces in our country,” said Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
“Without a democratic and free Belarus, there will be no peace and security in the entire region,” she said, stressing that Belarusians were “important”.
She also called on the International Court of Justice to open an investigation into human rights violations committed by Lukashenko and his allies and urged a more active role for international humanitarian organizations in Belarus, which she said suffers from a epidemic of politically motivated detentions.
“There are many political prisoners who are in a very bad physical condition, suffering from cancer, heart attacks, diabetes,” and who are being refused care, she continued.
” The Red Cross […] must ask every day to have access to all prisoners. We must act more effectively,” she stressed.
A number of opposition leaders are held in prison, including Tikhanovskaya’s husband, Sergei, from whom she has not heard from for six months.
The opponent strives to remain strong even if the suffering endured by her children makes the situation particularly trying.
“I cry on my pillow”
“I am of course aware of the situation,” she confides. “I cry into my pillow, but no one will witness it.”
“On the other hand, seeing my children in suffering every day, seeing them write letters to their dad and not receiving any response in return” is difficult to live with, she says.
And added: “I know that I must work hard day after day… because without this work, without perseverance, our loved ones, our friends, our loved ones, will not be freed.”
Earlier this month, Belarusian authorities announced that their embassies abroad would stop issuing passports, a blow to thousands of opposition Belarusians living in exile and which was denounced by the UN.
“This decision is revenge [contre] all these people who fled because of oppression,” lamented the opponent.
But her team is not giving up and is working to issue special identity papers for her compatriots living abroad, which she hopes will be recognized by European governments as valid travel documents. “I of course hope that one day these will be the passports of all Belarusians,” she said.