Russia scratches Tsikhanouskaya from interstate wanted list ‘at initiative of Belarusian agencies’
Information about Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya disappeaared from the database of wanted persons of Russia’s Interior Ministry on May 25. The former presidential candidate had been on this list since October 7, 2020.
Tsikhanouskaya was removed from the list at the initiative of Belarusian law enforcement agencies, news agency TASS reports with reference to the ministry.
“Decisions to declare a person as wanted, or to terminate their interstate search, as well as to send this information to the Interstate Information Bank are exclusively within the competence of the law enforcement agencies of a CIS member state which initiated that search,” the MIA press service said.
If one needs more details about the case, they should contact the Belarusian side, they added.
According to the Belarusian Central Election Commission, 80.1% of voters supported Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the 2020 presidential election. Belarusian officials state that his strongest opponent Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya got 10.12% of votes. However, on the back of announcing the results of the official exit polls, Belarusians started to take to the streets, claiming that their votes were stolen.
In the wake of the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters, Tsikhanouskaya initiated the creation of the Coordination Council (СС) as part of taking urgent measures to restore law and order in Belarus as well as to ensure the transfer of power in the country. Belarus’ Prosecutor General opened a criminal case over establishing the Council, naming it a ‘threat to national security’. The authorities believe the body aims at seizing power in Belarus.
The members of the CC board were jailed (Liliya Ulasava, Maryia Kalesnikava, Maksim Znak) or forced out of the country (Pavel Latushka, Volha Kavalkova, Svyatlana Alexievich, Syarhei Dyleuski). Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya was also compelled to leave Belarus; now she is staying in Vilnius.
In October, the Belarusian authorities also included politician Tsikhanouskaya on the interstate wanted list under Article 361-3 of the Belarusian Criminal Code (‘calls for overthrowing the constitutional order’).
belsat.eu
