The fate of Belarus linked to the fate of Ukraine, says opponent Tikhanovskaya

(Geneva) Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, leading figure of the Belarusian opposition, affirms that the Belarusian people support Ukraine, and considers that the fate of Belarus is linked to the outcome of the war.

Passing through Geneva, the opponent in exile explained in an interview with AFP on Thursday the importance of distinguishing the position of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Moscow against Ukraine, from that of the population.

“Now we have to fight not only against the regime, not only for the release of our political prisoners, but also for Ukrainians, because we understand that the fate of Belarus depends on the fate of Ukraine at this time,” did she say.

The Belarusian president, who put an iron fist on the popular protest movement against his re-election in 2020, supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24.

But for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, considered the real winner of the August 2020 presidential election by Westerners against outgoing head of state Alexander Lukashenko, “the Belarusian people do not support this war”.

“And Lukashenko dragged our country into this invasion of Ukraine, because he is reimbursing the Kremlin for the support it gave him in 2020,” she said.

In power for nearly 30 years, Mr. Lukashenko has drawn the wrath of the international community for having supported the invasion of Ukraine.

“But our Belarusian people have created an anti-war movement, despite the many months of repression in our country, our people have dared to go to the rally,” said Mr.^me Tikhanovskaya, 39 years old.

Earlier, at a press conference organized by the Association of Correspondents Accredited to the United Nations in Geneva (ACANU), she stressed that the Belarusians “fear a possible war” on their territory.

“Like aggressors”

She also maintained that they are paying a heavy price for the position of their leader, because of the heavy international sanctions.

“We are being treated as aggressors,” she said, even as the population “struggles against the dictatorship.”

In his view, the international community – rather than denying visas to ordinary inhabitants of Belarus – should implement sanctions aimed more at state companies and banks that finance the regime.

According to a recent UN report, at least 37,000 people were arrested between May 2020 and May 2021 as part of the violent crackdown on protests that took place before and after the August 2020 elections in which Alexander Lukashenko has won a sixth term in office.

Many of them were ill-treated and tortured while in detention. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Thursday that 1,085 people were still imprisoned in Belarus for political reasons.

According to the High Commission, more than 900 people were arrested last month during protests against the decision to allow Belarus to have nuclear country status. This reform, which could allow the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, was adopted at the end of February during a referendum by Belarusians.

“The conditions of political prisoners in our country are much worse than those of habitual criminals”, observed with AFP Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, whose husband, Sergei Tikhanovski, a major figure in the opposition, is languishing in prison.

“People are constantly humiliated physically and morally, they are deprived of medicines, medical care, deprived of hygienic products. They are tortured,” she said.

M^me Tikhanovskaya asked that the war in Ukraine not make us forget the terrible human rights situation in her country.

She also felt that people living in Vladimir Putin’s Russia now face a situation similar to what Belarusians are experiencing.

“We faced huge repressions after fraudulent elections in 2020. And Lukashenko was able to stay in power. He used all possible violence against people and now the situation in Russia looks the same,” she said.