MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2020) Former contender for Belarusian presidency Valery Tsepkalo, who fled the country in July, confirmed to Sputnik that he intended to move to Warsaw with his family and did not rule out that afterward, he will move to Vilnius.
Earlier in the day, the campaign office of the politician told Sputnik that Tsepkalo's family had already arrived in Ukraine after fleeing Russia. They plan to move to Poland in the coming days.
"Thank God, we are currently together. [The wife and the children] have just arrived," Tsepkalo said.
On July 24, a source close to Tsepkalo reported the politician's urgent departure from Belarus to Moscow for fear of being detained. According to the source, Tsepkalo left with his children, as he received information about his possible detention after law enforcement agencies carried out a search in his campaign headquarters.
Earlier, the Belarusian Central Election Commission refused to register Tsepkalo as a presidential candidate, and the politician challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the commission.
In 2014-2015, Tsepkalo � the former administration head of the Belarus Hi-Tech Park � and a Turkish businessman residing in Belarus, Sedat Igdeci, were involved in a trial over a dispute over the quality of the politician's private house built by the businessman's company, which resulted in a settlement agreement. Later, the businessman said that he had information about law violations and bribes during the construction of facilities for the Hi-Tech Park. The politician and his team have repeatedly denied Igdeci's claims.
In July 2020, Tsepkalo slammed as insinuations the businessman's accusations against him. Tsepkalo added that he was a victim and appealed to the prosecutor's office. The businessman, in turn, filed a lawsuit against Tsepkalo. As a result, the Belarusian Central Election Commission did not register the politician as a presidential candidate over information discrediting his honor and business reputation.
