Advertisement

Updated June 16th, 2021 at 06:45 IST

Russia removes Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya from wanted list

Russian police has removed Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya from their wanted list. She is currently living in exile in Lithuania.

Reported by: Apoorva Kaul
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
Advertisement

Russian police has removed Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya from their wanted list, the RIA news agency reported on June 15. Tsikhanouskaya fled into exile last year after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko launched a crackdown on protesters who accused him of rigging his 2020 re-election. Tikhanovskaya is currently living in exile in Lithuania.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya removed from Russian wanted list

Tsikhanouskaya stepped in as the leader of the opposition challenging the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the last elections after her husband was arrested. She is the wife of the jailed blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, according to AP. Lukashenko has faced months of protests after his re-election to a sixth term in a vote last August that was widely seen as rigged. Tikhanovskaya called for the creation of an international tribunal to investigate crimes reportedly committed by the government and the authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

Sviatlana demands sanctions against the Belarusian government

Last week, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition leader to Lukashenko in last year's disputed presidential election in Belarus, spoke to the Czech Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, in Prague, according to AP. Tikhanovskaya called on for more sanctions by the European Union against Belarus while on a trip to the Czech Republic. Tsikhanouskaya called for European countries to impose more sanctions against the Belarusian government in Minsk and not to cooperate with the country’s state institutions and banks.

The European Union (EU) has banned Belarusian carriers from its airspace and airports over the controversial landing of Ryanair flight and the authorities arrested dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich who was aboard. The European aviation safety agency (EASA) has also issued a directive that effectively bans EU aircraft from flying over Belarusian airspace or landing on its territory.

IMAGE: AP

Inputs from AP

Advertisement

Published June 16th, 2021 at 06:45 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo