During her working visit to the United States, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was interviewed by Voice of America. She spoke on why participation in the UN General Assembly was important for the democratic forces of Belarus and what international support they were seeking.
📌 “We are looking for world leaders who can somehow assist us with these questions. People in Belarusian prisons are dying. This is the most painful topic for us in the democratic movement. And I think countries who still have some relationship with this regime can assist us in solving the humanitarian crisis”.
📌 “Lukashenka wants to sell the release of about 100 people as an act of humanity. But it has nothing to do with this. I think this release is connected with the pressure imposed on Lukashenka’s regime. They want to have the sanctions lifted”.
📌 “Our task is to make sure that the policy of our democratic allies will not change toward Belarus. We are looking for ways to release political prisoners for humanitarian reasons. We are looking for countries and organizations that can be mediators on this issue”.
📌 “We want to use international mechanisms – the ICC [International Criminal Court], ICJ [International Court of Justice] – to bring Lukashenka and his cronies to account, though these instruments are rather slow, honestly speaking. But we are consistent in our approach, and hopefully, a special investigation against the crimes will start very soon”.
📌 “Our ultimate goal is to release political prisoners, hold free and fair elections. But before this, of course, we have to weaken the regime as much as possible and strengthen national identity, civil society, and democratic forces, to have a smooth and fast transition period”.
