Post-election demonstrations in Belarus. Anna Tikhonovskaya had to leave the country

According to preliminary results of the presidential election in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko received 80.08% of the vote. Her main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya received 10.09% of the vote.

1.68% of voters supported Anna Kanopatskaya, 1.21% supported Andrei Dmitriev and 1.15% supported Sergey Cherechen. More than 4.5% of voters voted against everyone. Turnout was 84.17%.

Thousands of Belarusians took to the streets after the announcement of the preliminary results of the elections. Lukashenko stated that they are directed from outside. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. More than 50 civilians were injured in the clashes, including 39 police officers, some of whom were hospitalized. According to some reports, one person was killed. About 3,000 people have been arrested and charged with rioting and using force against police. Detainees face up to 8-15 years in prison.

Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters stated that it did not accept the official election results. According to the candidate, the data from the polling stations in different regions of the country show that Tikhanovskaya received 70-80% of the votes.

The candidate was going to appeal the election results, announcing. “Going out on my street will lead to escalation of the conflict. That is why I am now [in headquarters], I am with my people. I consider myself a winner in the elections. “We have alternative calculation data. We will prove all the violations.” Tikhanovskaya also said that she offered to meet with Alexander Lukashenko to “avoid conflict”, but there was no response yet.

It became known today that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya refused to appeal the elections and left the country. She left for Lithuania to her children. The husband remains in prison. In his video message, he said that he was not ready for people to suffer or die for his struggle. “I have made a very difficult decision in my life. I thought all this made me strong, but no, I’m the same vulnerable woman. No one’s life is worth what is happening now. “Children are in the most important place in life,” Tikhanovskaya said in her video message.

It should be reminded that Tikhanovskaya is the wife of Sergey Tikhanovsky a well-known Belarusian blogger, who announced his candidacy for the presidency earlier. After filing several criminal cases against her husband, she announced that she was ready to run in the elections instead of her husband. “I found myself in this position out of love for my husband,” said the female candidate.

Svetlana, 37, who was forced to send her two children abroad for security reasons, has become a leading candidate in the opposition, a leading figure in expected change in Belarus. Describing herself as a symbol of change, she promised to hold new presidential elections if she wins, in which all candidates will be able to run, including those currently in prison.

Opposition figures include Veronica Zepkalo, the wife of unregistered candidate Valeri Zepkalo, and Maria Kolesnikova, the coordinator of another unregistered candidate, Victor Babariko. These three women, who announced their struggle together, gathered a record number of people during the election campaign.

Full text in Armenian