Germany Says Belarus Candidate's Video Shows Extent Of Repressive Tools Minsk Ready To Use

Germany Says Belarus Candidate's Video Shows Extent of Repressive Tools Minsk Ready to Use

The flight from Belarus of presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, which she was allegedly forced to undertake, shows the kind of steps Minsk is willing to take, German Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday

BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2020) The flight from Belarus of presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, which she was allegedly forced to undertake, shows the kind of steps Minsk is willing to take, German Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday.

A day prior, unlikely opposition challenger Tikhanovskaya released a video saying she decided to leave Belarus and called on her supporters to avoid protesting the presidential election result. Supporters have claimed that Tikhanovskaya was pressured to flee under threats posed to her husband, who is currently behind bars.

"The fact that Tikhanovskaya, an opposition candidate [was allegedly pressured to flee] shows what kind of atmosphere presides in Belarus, an atmosphere of intimidation, fear and violence. Obviously, as you said, Tikhanovskaya, whose husband is under arrest, was forced to record a video calling for an end to the protests. This confirms our worst assumption and makes it clear what kind of repressive tools the regime in Minsk is ready to use," Seibert said at a briefing in Berlin.

The spokesman also raised concerns over the numerous detentions of journalists and ordinary citizens in the country, calling for an immediate release of all those in custody.

German and European Union leaders have mulled reconsidering lifting long-standing sanctions on Belarus on the back of post-election unrest and police violence.

Tikhanovskaya galvanized a vocal portion of the Belarus electorate behind her in the run-up to the August 9 presidential election against incumbent Alexander Lukashenko. She took on the mantle after her husband, popular opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, was placed under arrest during an incident with a policeman while on the campaign trail.

The unrest began in major Belarusian cities after ballot boxes closed when official numbers released showed Lukashenko leading by a wide margin. Thousands have since been arrested and one person died in cat-and-mouse scuffles with police, who have resorted to using tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.