Tikhanovskaya urged Belarus to cut ties with Russia
Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, during her visit to Washington, called on Belarus to cut relations with Russia. Speaking on Wednesday, March 22, at the US Congress, she criticized the actions of Alexander Lukashenko, who allowed the Kremlin to use Belarus to attack Ukraine.
The aggressor country “freely uses” Belarus’ territory, airspace and infrastructure for military purposes in order to “attack and threaten Ukraine”, Tikhanovskaya recalled. “The time has come to oppose Russian interference in the internal affairs of Belarus. The Russian Federation supports an illegitimate regime and carries out colonial actions against our national identity,” she emphasized. The former presidential candidate of Belarus called on the country to stop participating in the war against Ukraine.
Tikhanovskaya sentenced to 15 years in Belarus
In early March, the Minsk City Court sentenced Tikhanovskaya in absentia to 15 years in prison. The investigation charged him with ten counts at once: unauthorized appropriation of title and power, assisting a foreign state in actions against national security, conspiracy to seize power, inciting hatred, creating an extremist formation, obstructing work of the CEC and others.
According to Tikhanovskaya, she does not think about what the Belarusian authorities wanted to tell her with this verdict. “With or without him”, she intends to continue “to do everything in her power to free political prisoners and lead the country towards democratic change”.
Source: DW
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