INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a seventh successive term in workplace Sunday in an election knocked by the European Union and
the nations exiled opposition.With all his challengers in jail or living in exile abroad, the 70-year-old ruler appeared to have actually
won 87.6% of the vote, according to a main exit poll
That is more than the 81.04% Lukashenko was supposed to have wone in the countrys last presidential election.Exiled opposition leader
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called the election a farce, while the EU explained it as a sham
Lukashenko, nevertheless, stated he did not care whether the bloc acknowledged the results.The Belarusian leader likewise stated that he
had no remorses about permitting Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he referred to as his older bro, to utilize Belarus as a staging
ground for the full-scale intrusion of Ukraine.Sundays vote occurred five years into a wave of increased repression in Belarus, throughout
which rights groups say the nation has imprisoned more than 1,200 people as political prisoners.Belaruss 2020 election ended in across the
country demonstrations, with demonstrators implicating Lukashenko of rigging the vote.Tens of thousands of Belarusians left their nation in
the consequences of the 2020 demonstrations as the countrys security services embarked on a repression spree, generally to surrounding
Poland and Lithuania.Lukashenko stated Sunday that his opponents were behind bars or abroad out of option
Some selected prison, some exile, he said
If it is jail then its those who opened their mouths too commonly, he added.Repenting and requesting for pardon were prerequisites for any
prisoner releases, Lukashenko stated throughout a press conference that lasted four hours and 25 minutes.In Warsaw, home to numerous
banished Belarusians, opposition leader Tikhanovskaya described Lukashenko as a lawbreaker who has actually seized power
Many individuals used masks and some declined to speak with AFP, discussing they had family members in Belarus and criticism might trigger
Its just a nation with the impression of option, said Aliaxandra, a 22-year-old trainee, including that a few of her fellow residents had
actually been residing in worry for years
Tikhanovskaya told AFP in an interview earlier this month she wanted dissidents to be ready for an opportunity for modification in Belarus
However she admitted that it was not the moment
In a declaration on Sunday, the foreign ministers of the 8 Nordic and Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden celebrated the vigorous efforts of the Belarusian democratic forces led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
Tikhanovskayas allies in Belarus are held in jail typically incommunicado and in isolation.Lukashenko accused sent to prison protest leader
Maria Kolesnikova who wrecked her passport during forced deportation by security services in 2020 of breaking jail rules.He stated that he
personally gave the order for Kolesnikova to be shown to the people last November when pictures of her were released in the first
indication of her still being alive for over a year.Fears for the health of Kolesnikova, who was hospitalized while in prison, have actually
However, Lukashenko insisted that she is great
Most people in Belarus have only remote memories of life before Lukashenko, who was 39 when he won the very first nationwide election after
the country acquired independence from the Soviet Union.Public criticism of Lukashenko is prohibited
Many people AFP spoke with in Minsk and other towns voiced support for him.In Minsk, 74-year-old pensioner Nadezhda Guzhalovskaya stated she
elected Lukashenko due to an absence of other choices
Maybe everything here is not best, we dont have democracy, Guzhalovskaya said.But Irina Lebedeva said that thanks to our president there
is peace in this country, duplicating the governments position that the 2020 street demonstration leaders had developed chaos.The United
Nations approximates that some 300,000 Belarusians have left the country considering that 2020 out of a population of 9 million
They were unable to cast ballots, with Belarus having actually ditched voting abroad.In the run-up to the election, the Lukashenko
administration pardoned around 200 political detainees
But former prisoners told AFP those released were under the close watch of security services and not able to lead a normal life.Sometimes
called Europes last dictator a nickname he embracesLukashenko has maintained much of the Soviet Unions customs and infrastructure
throughout his time in power.Unlike in Russia, the KGB security agency has actually maintained its Soviet-era name and Belarus still
utilizes the death penalty.If Lukashenko finishes his brand-new term, which ends in 2030, he will have been in power for 36 years.
