Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svitlana Tikhanovskaya called her trial, which begins tomorrow in her absence, a “farce” and “revenge” by President Alexander Lukashenko in an interview with AFP in Davos, Switzerland.

She also called the Russian-Belarusian military maneuvers a “bluff” aimed at distracting the forces of the Ukrainian army from the front line in the east of the country.

Facing “dozens of charges” including treason and conspiracy to seize power, she said she had contacted her official lawyer, but he had not responded.

“I don’t even know what my so-called lawyer is going to do tomorrow in this court, how he’s going to defend me,” she said Monday. “I don’t know how long this trial will last, how many days, but I am sure that I will be sentenced to many, many years in prison,” she continued.

The opposition also called Monday’s joint air force exercises between Russia and Belarus a “bluff” by Lukashenka, which allowed Russia to use its territory to attack Ukraine.

“This is a show for Belarusians, to threaten them, to say: look, the Russian army is here, so stay calm, don’t oppose anything,” she said.

The main goal, she said, was to “distract the Ukrainian military from hot spots in the east (of Ukraine) to the border with Belarus” in the north.

Svitlana Tikhanovska, who claimed victory in Belarus’ disputed 2020 presidential election, said she was the first person from her country to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos since 1992, two years before Lukashenko came to power.

“It is a great honor for us, because for more than 30 years Belarus was like a black hole on the map of Europe: we were considered an annex of Russia,” she said.

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