Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Just as the free-minded athlete Nadzeya Astapchuk has been held for a month and a half in detention under conditions of torture and then forced to repent in an interview, the world is seriously discussing whether the athletes of the regime and Russia can be admitted to the Olympics.
Since 2020, Belarusian athletes have spoken out en masse against election fraud, repression, and torture. They were criminally prosecuted, imprisoned, and stripped of their careers. They spoke out against the regime – and lost their chance to qualify for the Olympics.
Pro-regime athletes like Maksim Nedasekau see nothing wrong with repression and torture. They do not see Russia's crimes in the war and openly support the regime. Despite the repression of the sports community in Belarus, such athletes were allowed to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. Despite the attempt to take athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to Belarus by force, they were allowed to the Beijing Olympics. And even despite the regime's complicity in Russia's war against Ukraine, they are going to be admitted to the Paris Olympics. And honest Belarusian athletes, who have been fighting the regime and opposing the war all this time, will not be allowed to compete at the Olympics – because the regime does not allow them to compete.
This has nothing to do with justice. I support the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation’s statement. Athletes who support repression, rigged elections, and war in Ukraine must not take part in the Olympics. Not under any flag – neither under the state flag, nor under the Russian one, nor under the neutral one”.
