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Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: My First Step As Presidential Winner Will Be Release Of All Political Prisoners

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: My First Step As Presidential Winner Will Be Release Of All Political Prisoners
SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA
PHOTO: BELSAT

The presidential contender gave an interview to Voice of America.

Presidential candidate of Belarus Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is awaiting the results of verification of the submitted signatures. For many in Belarus, her nomination was unexpected, and this happened after Sviatlana's husband, a Homel blogger, author of the Country for Life YouTube channel, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, was placed in a temporary detention center after his participation in the election campaign.

The correspondent of the Voice of America Russian service recorded an interview with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

- Was the decision to run for president of Belarus, after your husband was denied registration, spontaneous, or thought out in advance?

- The decision was absolutely spontaneous. It took me a couple of hours to realize it. Siarhei was not registered, and I wanted to support him, because I really could not help him at that moment. And I did not find any other way but to go on my own and apply for registration in order to confidently tell my husband: "I did everything I could, dear."

I did not expect to be registered, but it turned out the way it turned out.

- What were you thinking about during this couple of hours before making a decision? Have you had any doubts in this regard?

- Of course, there were doubts. And the doubts were not whether I should go to apply for registration or not. I was thinking about whether this would help Siarhei in any way, or it was pointless after all.

- It is believed that you are supported mainly by the so-called "advanced youth", or, as they say in Russia, the "creative class"? Is this really so, and what can you offer to the traditional voters of Lukashenka so that they take interest in you?

- I can say that our electorate is not only advanced youth, although there are many of them. These are elderly people, old ladies and gentlemen came to put their signatures to support us, there were people born in 1924. Therefore, we are supported by completely different people.

Of course, among the signatories at our pickets there were those who wanted to personally support me, or more precisely, of course, Siarhei Tsikhanouski. But there were those who also signed for two other alternative candidates. And this is understandable, because at this stage not all voters are ready to consciously make the final choice. But for them it is important that someone else be at the head of the country. They are tired of Lukashenka, they want changes in the country. And in each of the alternative candidates, Belarusians see hope for a way out of stagnation.

- Are there any moves in the investigation of the threatening phone calls you received? Have similar calls been repeated?

- No, there was only one such call. And since at that moment we had other priorities - we had to hand over the signatures, I did not take up this matter and did not apply for an investigation.

And after the first shock from this call wore off, I decided for myself that, probably, these were not some real threats. That, most likely, it was someone's ugly and unpleasant joke, or an attempt to scare me. Upon reflection, I thought that if they wanted to put pressure on me seriously, then people would not act so rudely through the phone, but they would come up with something sophisticated. Therefore, I let go of this incident.

- And when do you expect to receive information about whether you are registered as a candidate for the presidency of Belarus or not? How long does the Central Election Commission have to verify signatures?

- The decision must be made before July 14. We handed over about one hundred and ten thousand signatures and about forty thousand we couldn’t hand in - due to the lack of people to verify the authenticity of signatures, due to the lack of time and the obstacles that we were being set.

- In the event that you manage to win, what will be your first steps as the head of the Republic of Belarus? Will you persecute (by law!) the representatives of the former regime?

- Well, my victory in the presidential election is still a very hypothetical option. But if by that time all our arrested fathers, brothers, husbands would not be released, then, naturally, my first step would be to release all political prisoners in this case.

As for the persecution of representatives of the former regime, this is too broad a concept. And here it is necessary to separate those who gave criminal orders from those who carried them out. These are two completely different categories of people. Of course, a president should not decide their fate, since this is the prerogative of the court. Responsibility should be borne by those who gave criminal orders, and those who executed these orders.

- In addition to you, two other alternative candidates for the presidency of Belarus are Viktar Babaryka and Valer Tsapkala. Do you consider them your tactical allies and on what terms are you ready to join your efforts with them?

- Are we talking about the election race now?

- Yes, and about the state of affairs before August 9, as well as about the situation in which all of you will be registered, and then someone goes on the second round together with Aliaksandr Lukashenka. Will you will support the one who makes it to the second round, or the one who will be registered before August 9?

- Both candidates that you spoke about, gained during the popular vote on various Internet resources a high percentage of voter support. All three of us are united by the fact that the people who signed for us want the same thing - changes for the better in our country. Therefore, of course, we can consider the other two alternative candidates as our tactical allies.

In addition, one of them - Viktar Babaryka - is already under arrest, like my husband, and on Monday June 29, information was received that the authorities are making claims against Mr. Tsapkala. This means that both of them are strong competitors for the current ruler.

And in general, I see the ideal election option as follows: at the final stage, a struggle between two people takes place. One is Lukashenka, because he does not seem likely to disappear anywhere, and the other is one of the three of us. Then the election would be fair and competitive. And as for joining efforts, the main thing is that there should be around whom to unite at the time of the election. But we see that now everything is changing very quickly, and who is registered and who is not is incomprehensible. But we should most definitely unite.

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