Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag Norbert Röttgen and Vice-President of the German Bundestag Claudia Roth.
The main subject of the meetings was assistance to Belarusians. It includes supporting the repressed, the wounded, those trying to get the necessary treatment, and the families of political prisoners.
German politicians expressed full support for the people of Belarus from the German people and promised to implement programs to support journalists and media, activists, human rights defenders as soon as possible; initiate the procedure for issuing German humanitarian visas for Belarusians who have experienced violence.
“Act now. Our people continue their peaceful protests on the streets of their cities, but it is getting cold, and repressions do not stop. Yet, I know that the protest cannot be stopped because people firmly stand up to their demands, which the regime does not fulfill. We demand new elections through inclusive dialogue.”
At meetings, politicians discussed the Bundestag's resolution on support for Belarus, as well as possible options for pressure on the regime: targeted sanctions against companies that support Lukashenka and repress workers. Tsikhanouskaya also raised the question of whether German companies, following the example of the Norwegian Yara, can be more active and set conditions in cooperation with Belarusian enterprises that repress workers. In particular, she mentioned Siemens and Eickhoff.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Germany to support international investigations of crimes against humanity in Belarus, following the example of Lithuania and Poland, to start pre-trial investigations, to recognize the GUBOPiK and OMON as terrorist organizations, and to expand the sanctions list of persons associated with repressions of the past four months.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya told the Bundestag representatives that coronavirus is deliberately spreading in Belarusian prisons; prisoners leave sick. When detained, people are marked with paint. They continue to be beaten and tortured. Tsikhanouskaya stressed that it is important to prevent impunity for all these crimes. And Germany can help investigations, a fair trial.
When asked what Russia's role in resolving the Belarusian crisis and whether Russia is helping resolve the conflict peacefully, Tsikhanouskaya responded that she and her team contacted Russia, like the European leaders. Still, Russia decided to support the Lukashenka regime. “The only thing we ask is for Russia not to interfere and support those who commit violence in Belarus. All political prisoners must be released and the violence must stop. The only topic that both Russia and the European countries should discuss is how to conduct a new election campaign quickly. ”
