The prosecutor’s office of Brest sent a criminal case against a 58-year-old citizen of a foreign state under the article on “spreading deliberately false fabrications” in relation to the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. This is reported by the prosecutor’s office of Belarus. As the Brest subdivision of the Belarusian human rights center “Vesna”, in turn, clarified on Sunday, September 5, on Twitter, the speech, apparently, is about the citizen of the Russian Federation Irina Fyodorovna Vikkholm, born in 1963.
According to human rights activists, she “has been in custody since the end of May” and is in remand prison No. 7 in Brest.
Accused due to Twitter post
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus, on May 23, 2021, the accused posted on Twitter a photo of Lukashenka and “slanderous information about his committing an” act of terrorism and air piracy. “
During the preliminary investigation, the accused pleaded not guilty. Representatives of the Russian side have not yet officially commented on the situation.
The maximum punishment is imprisonment for up to five years
The case was instituted under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (“slander” in the chapter on Belarus). For violation of this part of the article, the restriction of freedom is provided for the same period.
Human rights activists fear that Vikholm will be sent to a colony, since restrictions on freedom cannot be imposed on citizens of other countries.
New sanctions against Minsk
Earlier, on August 9, the authorities of the United States, Great Britain and Canada introduced a new package of sanctions against Minsk. The decision was made on the anniversary of the presidential elections in Belarus. Sectoral restrictive measures are mostly similar to those approved by the European Union at the end of June.
See also:
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Leader of Democratic Belarus
Exactly a year ago, a housewife from Gomel, in an English teacher Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, announced her intention to participate in the presidential campaign in Belarus. On May 15, 2020, she submitted instead and, as she herself does not emphasize, documents for registration with the CEC – and by coincidence she became the leader of the democratic forces. How she spent a year in this role – in the DW photo gallery.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Collection of signatures for Tikhanovskaya
Initially, her husband, the author of the YouTube channel “Country for Life” Sergei Tikhanovsky, planned to run for the presidency of Belarus. But he was denied registration, and at the end of May he was detained and is still in jail. Tikhanovskaya queues.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Single candidate from the opposition
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced anonymous threats against her and her children demanding that they stop participating in the election race, but decided not to give up. On July 14, the CEC issued her a certificate. In fact, she became the single opposition candidate. Lukashenka’s other strong rivals, Viktor Babariko and Valery Tsepkalo, were denied registration. In total, five candidates were allowed to participate in the elections.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Consolidation of headquarters
Viktor Babariko was detained, Valery Tsepkalo had to go abroad because of the persecution. On July 16, the coordinator of Babariko’s headquarters, Maria Kolesnikova, Valery Tsepkalo’s wife Veronika and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced a joint effort. The women’s trio has become the face of the campaign for fair elections in Belarus. Its members called for voting, becoming observers, and fighting fraud.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Three graces as a symbol of peaceful change
The campaign rallies of the joint headquarters gathered thousands of Belarusians throughout the country. On July 30, according to various estimates, up to 70 thousand people attended the official picket of Tikhanovskaya in the Minsk Peoples’ Friendship Park. Repeated elections with the participation of all alternative candidates, a referendum on the return of the 1994 constitution, and the release of political prisoners.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Unrecognized election results
On August 10, the CEC announced Lukashenka’s victory in the presidential elections – for the sixth time. Tikhanovskaya, according to official data, got 10.1% of the vote, while Lukashenka – 80.1%. According to the opposition and many citizens of Belarus, the voting results were massively falsified. They were not recognized in the West.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Post-election protests
Tikhanovskaya’s supporters and analysts believe that in fact she, at least, made it to the second round and even, perhaps, won the election in the first round. Protests against falsification of voting results that erupted in Belarus immediately after the elections do not stop en masse due to repression by the Belarusian authorities.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Forced emigration
Under pressure from the authorities, on the night of August 11, Tihanovskaya was forced to leave for Lithuania. “God forbid to face such a choice, which I faced,” – she said in a video message. Now Svetlana lives in Vilnius – under the protection of the Lithuanian state. The Belarusian authorities are seeking her extradition and accused of terrorism. She emphasizes that Tikhanovskaya supports peaceful methods.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
For international mediation
The way out of the crisis in Belarus is in the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition and the holding of new elections, Tikhanovskaya said. Now her team is creating the prerequisites for this. In March, a vote for internationally mediated negotiations was launched on the Golos platform. The initiative was supported by over 770 thousand people. With this game on the forum and the work of the Coordination Council of the opposition.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
At a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel
The need for dialogue in Belarus is one of the main conferences and meetings of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya with the heads of Western states and governments. Her team is also establishing international contacts to provide humanitarian aid to Belarusians who suffered from repression and economic support for the country after the new elections – a kind of “Marshall plan for Belarus”.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Attention to torture in Belarus
Sanctions against high-ranking officials guilty of violence against civilians, as well as assistance from the international community in documenting torture in Belarus and prosecuting security officials are other key areas in the work of Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters. Lawsuits against the Belarusian security forces are being considered in Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic. A corresponding claim was filed with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought”
In December 2020, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was awarded the Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought”. In addition to her, the European Parliament awarded this award to Svetlana Aleksievich, Maria Kolesnikova, Veronika Tsepkalo, Ales Bialiatski, Stepan Putilo and other activists of the united Belarusian opposition. “Freedom is a victory over fear,” said the Tikhanov Prize ceremony in Brussels.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
At a meeting with the diaspora in Rome
Meetings with the diaspora, support for the People’s Embassies, which inform the world community about the situation in Belarus, contacts with those who continue to protest in Belarus – Tikhanovskaya calls herself a leader elected by the Belarusian people. Bloomberg Agency her in the top 50 most influential people of 2020. And no matter how people treat it, the history of modern Belarus is already unthinkable without it.
-
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
New image of a leader
During this difficult, eventful year, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has changed externally and as a politician. And it’s not just a new hairstyle. She began to dress more stylishly, lead more confidently, sound more competent, without losing her naturalness and warmth. Among world leaders, she looks on equal terms, and ordinary Belarusians perceive her as “their own” – this is her uniqueness.
Author: Yanina Moroz