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| Belarus opposition candidate in Lithuania after second night of protests | Belarus opposition candidate in Lithuania after second night of protests |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s low score in official election results has prompted two nights of unprecedented protest action | Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s low score in official election results has prompted two nights of unprecedented protest action |
| Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the main opposition candidate in Sunday’s disputed elections in Belarus, has left the country as clashes between heavily-armed police and demonstrators escalated during a second night of protests. | |
| Tikhanovskaya is in Lithuania, its foreign minister Linas Linkevicius tweeted on Tuesday morning. He told the Guardian that she had been detained by Belarusian authorities for seven hours after filing a complaint against vote-rigging. She crossed the border towards morning, he said. | |
| “Now she’s in Lithuania, taking some rest, and we will see what are her further plans and intentions,” he said. “I can just say that she is safe and that she is in Lithuania.” | |
| Asked whether she had fled the country or been expelled, he said: “It was not her intention I believe to leave Belarus but it was the only option she could take, I believe.” | |
| Veronika Tsepkalo, a senior ally of Tikhanovskaya, told the Guardian that she had also fled the country late on Monday evening after being told there was “an order out for my arrest”. She had returned to Belarus one day earlier from Russia, where her husband, a former presidential candidate, had also fled last month. | |
| Tikhanovskaya’s team had been unable to reach her by phone on Monday after she had filed a complaint against the official results at the election commission building in the capital, Minsk. According to the commission she took just 10.09% of the vote, while longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko won 80.08%. | |
| At least one person was killed and dozens injured in a second night of clashes between riot police and protesters across the country. | At least one person was killed and dozens injured in a second night of clashes between riot police and protesters across the country. |
| The fighting late on Monday appeared to escalate as police once again employed rubber bullets and stun grenades against demonstrators, while some shot back with fireworks and several Molotov cocktails, according to a Guardian reporter who estimated the crowd at several thousand people. | The fighting late on Monday appeared to escalate as police once again employed rubber bullets and stun grenades against demonstrators, while some shot back with fireworks and several Molotov cocktails, according to a Guardian reporter who estimated the crowd at several thousand people. |
| Protesters also began constructing crude barricades from shopping carts, fencing, breezeblocks and other items found on the street. | Protesters also began constructing crude barricades from shopping carts, fencing, breezeblocks and other items found on the street. |
| Some said they had decided to join the protests after scenes of harrowing violence on Sunday evening, when police attacked demonstrators with rubber bullets, water cannon, stun grenades and batons. | Some said they had decided to join the protests after scenes of harrowing violence on Sunday evening, when police attacked demonstrators with rubber bullets, water cannon, stun grenades and batons. |
| “I never went to protests before and until yesterday and I told everyone I know not to go either,” said a young protester in a hoodie wearing a medical mask. “But when I saw how they beat people across the street from my house, I realised I couldn’t sit at home any longer.” | “I never went to protests before and until yesterday and I told everyone I know not to go either,” said a young protester in a hoodie wearing a medical mask. “But when I saw how they beat people across the street from my house, I realised I couldn’t sit at home any longer.” |
| Tsepkalo was unable to reach Tikhanovskaya or other senior staffers due to an internet shutoff in Belarus and only learned about Tikhanovskaya’s on Tuesday morning. | |
| “There must have been a reason,” Tsepkalo said. “Look at what’s happening in Belarus. People are fighting for their right to choose their president. It’s unacceptable that Lukashenko is shedding the blood of Belarusian people and ordering mass arrests for that.” | |
| “All of staffers are afraid. Everyone who was public during the campaign, they’re all in danger of arrest.” | |
| A Tikhanovskaya aide said that she was pressured to leave the country in exchange for the release of her chief of staff, Maria Moroz, who had been detained by police on Saturday. Tikhanovskaya and Moroz crossed into Lithuania together, the staffer, Olga Kovalkova, told Belarusian media. | |
| On Monday Tikhanovskaya had issued a message of defiance, rejecting the results of the election, which she described as massively rigged. | On Monday Tikhanovskaya had issued a message of defiance, rejecting the results of the election, which she described as massively rigged. |
| Her aides said the opposition wanted a vote recount at polling stations where there were reports of vote tampering. They also said the opposition wanted to hold talks with authorities about how to bring about a peaceful change of power. | Her aides said the opposition wanted a vote recount at polling stations where there were reports of vote tampering. They also said the opposition wanted to hold talks with authorities about how to bring about a peaceful change of power. |
| Lukashenko, who is facing the deepest crisis of his 26 years in power, has threatened to crush any illegal rallies. He claimed that the protests were being directed from abroad, singling out Poland, Britain and the Czech Republic. | Lukashenko, who is facing the deepest crisis of his 26 years in power, has threatened to crush any illegal rallies. He claimed that the protests were being directed from abroad, singling out Poland, Britain and the Czech Republic. |
| The protests have largely been decentralised, with no clear leader, although popular bloggers on social media have played an important role in their coordination. Protesters organising over Telegram channels discussed bringing protective gear such as goggles and first-aid kits as they expected fresh clashes with riot police armed with batons, rubber bullets, water cannon and stun grenades. | The protests have largely been decentralised, with no clear leader, although popular bloggers on social media have played an important role in their coordination. Protesters organising over Telegram channels discussed bringing protective gear such as goggles and first-aid kits as they expected fresh clashes with riot police armed with batons, rubber bullets, water cannon and stun grenades. |
| Tikhanovskaya was initially a stand-in candidate for her husband, a popular YouTuber jailed earlier in the year. But she grew into an effective campaigner, attracting more than 63,000 people to a rally last month in Minsk, and thousands more in small cities and towns usually dominated by Lukashenko. | Tikhanovskaya was initially a stand-in candidate for her husband, a popular YouTuber jailed earlier in the year. But she grew into an effective campaigner, attracting more than 63,000 people to a rally last month in Minsk, and thousands more in small cities and towns usually dominated by Lukashenko. |
| Preliminary results released on Sunday showing a landslide victory for Lukashenko had prompted unprecedented protests in cities across the country, posing the greatest threat to the man often referred to as Europe’s last dictator since he came to power. Foreign observers have not declared a Belarusian election free and fair since 1995. | Preliminary results released on Sunday showing a landslide victory for Lukashenko had prompted unprecedented protests in cities across the country, posing the greatest threat to the man often referred to as Europe’s last dictator since he came to power. Foreign observers have not declared a Belarusian election free and fair since 1995. |
| He was already facing unprecedented anger over his handling of the economy and a bungled coronavirus response. | He was already facing unprecedented anger over his handling of the economy and a bungled coronavirus response. |