"What I wish to inform is that lots of people in Belarus now are political prisoners," Tikhanovskaya stated, talking by videoconference. "They sim
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“What I wish to inform is that lots of people in Belarus now are political prisoners,” Tikhanovskaya stated, talking by videoconference. “They simply are in jail with none court docket, and they’re in there just for their, I do not know, for his or her want to speak about what is going on on in Belarus, about their want to reside in a free nation.
“After the demonstrations,” she stated in halting however clear English, “we nonetheless do not know the place about 70 individuals are and they’re miss[ing] and it is a very huge drawback for us as a result of it should not be in a European nation within the 21st century that individuals are miss[ing] and authorities do not do something simply to search out them.
“All people has seen all of the violence that our authorities have dedicated, our police dedicated towards all these peaceable individuals,” Tikhanovskaya stated. “And never one felony case was organized to analyze this, you realize these crimes, as if it is regular. No, it is not regular and instances must be opened towards each policeman that beat these individuals.”
Tikhanovskaya spoke to POLITICO a day after tens of hundreds of individuals once more took to the streets in Minsk, and Lukashenko deployed giant contingents of riot police, and cordoned off key buildings, together with the residence of the embattled chief who was celebrating his 66th birthday.
She expressed confidence that the protests, together with labor strikes, would proceed till Lukashenko relinquished energy, and he or she advised that his opponents have been ready for a protracted battle that would tackle new varieties.
“Strikes are extraordinarily essential and in addition strikes can have completely different varieties,” she stated. “There are lots of methods, and it isn’t solely by way of demonstrations.
“I do know that this won’t cease,” she added. “You need to perceive … we awakened … we won’t settle for him anymore.”
Within the interview, Tikhanovskaya restated her dedication to main the nation solely to new, free elections, and stated she had no plan to serve long-term as president. She stated that the discharge of political prisoners, together with her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky, in addition to the substitute of the nation’s complete central election fee remained high preconditions for a brand new vote.
She acknowledged that she is now a “nationwide chief” and “I can contemplate myself to be a nationwide elected president,” however she stated, “I do not really feel myself comfy on this place.
“I perceive that folks voted for me,” she stated. “However they voted for me not as president, they voted for me as an individual who will lead the nation to new elections.
“I’m not going to be concerned in new elections and I haven’t got a proper to take part in them as a result of I promised my folks that I cannot participate,” she stated. “My mission will probably be over … after we will set up these elections.”
She added that it will be as much as her husband to resolve if he nonetheless needed to run for president after being launched from jail and he or she stated she was unsure that he had full details about the current developments within the nation given his incarceration.
All through the interview, Tikhanovskaya sought to painting the protests as a home political difficulty with out a bigger geopolitical narrative pitting Russia and former Soviet territories towards the West, as Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov and others have tried to claim.
She additionally expressed comparatively little concern about Russian intervention and appeared to exit of her method to keep away from upsetting the Kremlin, even refraining from criticizing the Russian authorities over the poisoning of opposition chief Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption protester who has develop into a nemesis of President Vladimir Putin.
“After all we’re towards any such instances, any violence, any poisoning of individuals, it should not be solved like this, it is completely inhuman,” she stated of Navalny, who’s at the moment receiving medical remedy in Germany. “However I am unable to, you realize, speak about this, as a result of there must be actual investigation on this case. And I am unable to blame anyone with out investigation.”
Tikhanovskaya stated it was as much as overseas political leaders levying sanctions towards Belarus, together with EU leaders, to resolve if Lukashenko ought to personally face sanctions. And she or he paused for a protracted whereas when requested if Lukashenko must be dropped at justice earlier than a global tribunal in The Hague.
“You already know, I feel I’m not able to reply this query overtly as a result of I feel that in the intervening time not less than, in the intervening time, it is the duty of the Belarusian individuals to face for his or her freedom, for his or her rights. And you realize I’ve to assume over your query, as a result of I by no means considered this drawback from this perspective. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm, I’ll assume it over.”
She stated the choice by Lukashenko’s regime to strip the credentials of many overseas journalists was indicative of the federal government’s effort to cover proof of police violence and different abuses. And she or he stated opposition forces would stay peaceable and have been keen to barter with anybody ready to carry a few new spherical of free, truthful elections.
She additionally defended her determination to depart for Lithuania, saying it was obligatory not just for her private security however has allowed her to speak with worldwide leaders and publicize the plight of her supporters. Nonetheless, regardless of expressing gratitude for the help of outdoor powers, she urged that Belarus be allowed to face by itself.
“We’re peaceable individuals and we do not need something besides to resolve this drawback,” she stated. “We wish these individuals to go away and to construct our nation with a brand new president. It is not about geopolitics. It is our inside affair and we ask for respect of our sovereignty. We ask each nation — however in case we’d like any form of assist in these negotiations, in case we’d like mediators, we ask to only be prepared to assist us.”