Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the former English teacher who presented the biggest challenge to Alexander Lukashenko in 26 years, disappeared overnight as violent protests gripped Minsk.
Presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya at a press conference in Minsk on Monday, the day after Belarus's presidential election.
“Many will understand me, many will judge, some will hate me,” she said. “What is happening now is not worth even one life,” she added, referring to violent clashes between heavily armed riot police and demonstrators that have erupted across the country and escalated during a second night of protests on Monday.
Belarusian authorities said they detained another 2,000 people on Monday and early Tuesday morning after taking more than 3,000 into custody on the first night of protests. Police reported Tuesday that one man died overnight after an explosive device detonated in his hand, while independent local media reported dozens of protesters had been badly beaten and wounded on the streets and in police custody.
The United States, which has worked hard to normalize relations with Belarus over the past year or more, is keeping a close eye on the events in the country. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Minsk in February, and in April, President Donald Trump nominated Julie Fisher, currently a deputy assistant secretary of state, to be the US’s first ambassador to Belarus since the last one was expelled in 2008. Minsk has also nominated an ambassador to Washington.
Tikhanovskaya’s video was met with relief but also confusion from supporters who held their collective breath as they awaited news of her whereabouts afterShe had gone there to file an official complaint about the election results. According to the CEC, Lukashenko won 80.08% of the vote on Sunday and Tikhanovskaya garnered just 10.09%. Independent election monitors were banned from observing the polls, but Tikhanovskaya’s camp mobilized its own observers to monitor voting precincts.
Three hours after Linkevičius’s tweet, Tikhanovskaya released what would be the first of two videos. In the one from Lithuania, she suggested she had been given an ultimatum by Belarusian authorities, who are currently holding her husband, the popular vlogger Sergei Tikhanovsky. He had announced his candidacy for president before he was detained and jailed in May., released by Belarusian state media Tuesday afternoon, a distressed Tikhanovskaya read from a piece of paper inside the CEC.
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