Belarus Election Challenger Tikhanovskaya Arrives Lithuania: Minister

Belarus election challenger Tikhanovskaya arrives Lithuania: minister

Vilnius, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Aug, 2020 ) :Belarus opposition challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is in Lithuania, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, following a second night of clashes in the authoritarian former Soviet republic after a disputed election.

"She arrived in Lithuania and is safe," Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told AFP.

The minister did not provide further details.

EU and NATO member Lithuania, which was also once part of the Soviet Union, has a history of granting refuge to Belarusian and Russian opposition figures.

The whereabouts of Tikhanovskaya, a political novice who has claimed victory in Sunday's poll against President Alexander Lukashenko, had been unknown as of late Monday.

One man died in protests in Belarus as thousands took to the streets of the capital Minsk late on Monday, saying Lukashenko had stolen the election from Tikhanovskaya to take a sixth term.

Police used rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas but demonstrators fought back with stones and fireworks and built makeshift barricades, AFP reporters, protesters and witnesses said, in chaotic scenes of defiance.