Latest Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya News

Belarus opposition and Western leaders reject election result that extends strongman's rule

Jan. 27, 2025 11:16 AM EST

Belarus' opposition activists and Western officials on Monday denounced an orchestrated election that extends the more than three-decade rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The country's exiled opposition leader called the result “sheer nonsense.” The Central...

Belarus strongman wins a 7th term in an election the opposition calls a farce

Jan. 26, 2025 19:38 PM EST

The smiling face of President Alexander Lukashenko gazed out from campaign posters across Belarus on Sunday as the country held an orchestrated election virtually guaranteed to give the 70-year-old autocrat yet another term on top of his three decades in power. “Needed!” the...

EU rejects election in Belarus and threatens new sanctions

Jan. 26, 2025 10:54 AM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union rejected the election in Belarus on Sunday as illegitimate and threatened new sanctions. Belarus held an orchestrated vote virtually guaranteed to give 70-year-old autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko yet another term on top of his three...

Belarus election is poised to extend the 30-year rule of 'Europe's last dictator'

Jan. 24, 2025 09:19 AM EST

The last time Belarus staged a presidential election in 2020, authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80% of the vote. That triggered cries of fraud, months of protests and a harsh crackdown with thousands of arrests. Not wanting to risk such unrest...

An imprisoned Nobel laureate underscores human rights abuses in Belarus

Jan. 19, 2025 00:55 AM EST

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The yellow name tag that Ales Bialiatski wears on his prison garb sets him apart from other inmates in Penal Colony No. 9 in eastern Belarus. It marks Bialiatski as a political prisoner to be singled out for harsh treatment. Because he's been labeled an...

Imprisoned Belarus activist resurfaces after being held incommunicado for over 700 days

Jan. 08, 2025 13:31 PM EST

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — An imprisoned opposition activist in Belarus resurfaced Wednesday in a video shot by a pro-government blogger after over 700 days of no contact with his family, weeks before an election that is all but certain keep the country's strongman leader in power. ...