Latest Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya News
A 22-year-old political prisoner has died in Belarus, rights campaigners say
A 22-year-old political prisoner has died behind bars in Belarus, the country's oldest human rights group said Saturday. Russian-born Dmitriy Schletgauer, who had been serving a 12-year sentence for espionage and “facilitating extremist activities” is the seventh dissenter to...
Belarus sets a Jan. 26 election that's almost certain to extend its authoritarian leader's rule
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Lawmakers in Belarus on Wednesday set the next presidential election for Jan. 26, a vote almost certain to extend the three-decade rule of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has suppressed all political dissent. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana...
Belarus opposition urges immediate release of over 200 political prisoners in dire state
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Thursday said 224 political prisoners in Belarus must be freed urgently, and called on Western countries to negotiate their release with the Belarusian authorities. Belarus' authoritarian...
A Belarusian opposition leader hails Lithuania's decision to seek ICC investigation into president
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Belarus' exiled opposition leader hailed Lithuania's move to seek prosecution at the International Criminal Court of her country's authoritarian president and other officials, saying Tuesday that it will give fresh hope to her homeland. “For me...
Belarusians fleeing repression at home say they face new threats and intimidation abroad
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — More than a half-million Belarusians have fled their country in the past four years as the authoritarian government launched a harsh crackdown on its political opponents. Some of them, however, are discovering that they can't escape intimidation and threats in their new...
Belarus' authoritarian leader pardons 30 out of some 1,400 political prisoners
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 30 prisoners convicted for taking part in protests, the presidential office said Friday. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile, welcomed the move but vowed to...
Relatives of Belarus' political prisoners complain that East-West swap didn't free their loved ones
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A wave of disappointment swept over opposition activists in Belarus last week as the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War unfolded and they learned it included none of the hundreds of political detainees who've been locked up for years by its authoritarian...
