SEEK SANCTIONS

SEEK SANCTIONS Tihanovska: 'People are imprisoned, raped, beaten, this must not happen in Europe' My country, my nation, my people need help now, the opposition politician said in a speech to the Council of Europe Writes: HinaPosted: September 08, 2020 4:45 pm Svetlana Tihanovska Svetlana Tihanovska Petras Malukas / AFP Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail Belarusian opposition politician in exile Svetlana Tikhanovska called on Tuesday for sanctions to be imposed and international pressure to be put on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and officials involved in quelling pro-democracy protests. "My country, my nation, my people now need help," Tikhanovskaya said in a speech to the Council of Europe, seeking help for a peaceful transition of power in Belarus, a former Soviet republic that is the only major European country not a member of the Council of Europe. "We need international pressure on that regime, on that man who is desperately holding on to power," she said during a video conference. "We need sanctions against individuals who issue and execute criminal orders that violate international norms and human rights." Protests have been taking place in Belarus every day since last month's presidential election. At least 7,000 protesters were detained. The UN has received 450 reports of torture and other ill-treatment of protesters in prison. "Opposition leaders are being held under false accusations, demanded, threatened or expelled from the country," she said. "Hundreds of people were imprisoned, raped and beaten. That should not be the rule in Europe. " Tihanovska, 37, claims the August 9 presidential election was rigged to keep Lukashenko in power. She called for the immediate release of all political prisoners. Tihanovska was second in the elections. She fled to Lithuania a few days after the election due to government pressure and the violent suppression of protests. image Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Tihanovska Petras Malukas / AFP Lukashenko, 66, has led Belarus for more than a quarter of a century, not allowing resistance. Electoral authorities announced he won with more than 80 percent of the vote. RELATED NEWS Scenes from the election, Alexander Lukashenko and protests in Minsk OPPOSITION LEADER Tikhanovskaya does not give up: 'Lukashenko no longer has the legitimacy to represent Belarus' The European Union assessed that the elections were "neither free nor fair" and condemned police violence. "Lukashenko has no legitimacy to be the president of our country," Tikhanovska told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. "Call for change" The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rick Daems , said that Belarus seems to have "crossed the point where the Belarusian people are no longer afraid to stand up for their rights". "In my opinion, it is not a form of destabilization, no, it is a call for change," he said. A representative of the Belarusian government, Andrei Savinjk , a senior member of parliament, said police were justifiably acting against the violence sparked by the protesters. "For the first time in our country's history, protesters are using Molotov cocktails - using weapons, bars, stones - to attack police officers," said Savinjk, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the lower house of parliament. He pointed out that the protesters have support from outside, especially from Poland, and accused the Polish army of being involved. Poland denies this.