15 minutes agoLukashenko's rival flees to Lithuania following assassination warnings
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)Opposition Mayor in Belarus Svetlana Tikanovska has fled towards Lithuania following information that she could have been preyed to a political assassination. The new politician on Sunday lost the race with the country's president, Lucashencon, whose victory is still being expected with protests. Less than two days after he lost his election to the chair [...]
Less than two days after losing his election to the highest state chair, President Belarus's rival, Alexander Lukashenko, has announced leaving the country after his life was threatened.
37-year-old Svetlana Tikanovska said the day before that she did not recognise the outcome of the race with her opponent, who won another plebistry victory with over 80 per cent of the vote.
She confirmed Tuesday that she is safe in neighboring Lithuania, along with her children.
I thought the campaign had made me so strong that I could endure everything. But I may have remained the same weak woman as at first. I know many of you will understand me, and others will condemn me and hate me. But it's not worth sacrificing for what's happening, and children are the most expensive thing in life,” Ticanovska said with a message in YouTube.
Just hours earlier, Belarus's information service suggested that it spared an attempted assassination against the opposition politician, a crime supposed to be committed if the new one participated in antigovernmental protests that erupted in the country following Sunday's elections.
In the evening hours, citizens again revolted against the state and police, creating barricades against rule forces that were not reluctant to use tear gas, rubber bullets and rubber sticks to disperse the crowds.
Authorities said one person lost his life from the explosion in the hands of an explosive material, while thousands of others were accompanied by police or in hospitals with minor injuries.
President Lukashenko called the protesters a flock of sheep controlled by foreign states.
“We have footage of a former security officer and all phone calls abroad. There were calls from Poland, Great Britain, Czech Republic to check, sorry to say it, our sheep, because these protesters don't even know what they're doing. ”
The opposition has accused government authorities of manipulating the result of the presidential race because dozens of electoral observers filed violations ended in custody.
The arrests did not save even official opposition candidates in recent months.
Amid all popular discontent, 65-year-old Lukashenko aims to launch the sixth term at the head of the state, which he has been running since 1994.
