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Belarus’s main opposition leader says she has made a “very difficult decision” to leave the country after protesting against an election result she claimed was rigged.
In a YouTube video, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she did it for her children because protests continued a second night. One person died.
She was now “safe” in Lithuania, the foreign minister said.
Poll results gave President Alexander Lukashenko 80% of the vote, but there have been several allegations of fraud.
Violent clashes between police and protesters have taken place over the two nights since the election, and there have been numerous reports of police brutality.
Mr Lukashenko, 65, who has ruled the former Soviet Union since 1994, described opposition leaders as “sheep” controlled from abroad.
But Ms Tikhanovskaya has galvanized the opposition, presenting a stronger-than-ever challenge to the autocratic leader. The 37-year-old announced her candidacy after her husband was arrested and blocked from registering to vote.
When she tried to file a complaint about the results on Monday, she was detained for seven hours.
A second video of her, apparently made during her detention, has now also surfaced. In it, she urges her supporters not to take part in protests or confront the police.
What did Mrs Tikhanovskaya say?
In an emotional video address to supporters (in Russian) recorded before her departure for Lithuania, Ms Tikhanovskaya said she had overestimated her own power.
“I thought this campaign really stole me and gave me so much power that I could handle anything,” she said.
“But I think I’m still the same weak woman I was.”
She said her decision to leave was taken “completely independently” and was not influenced by anyone around her, although many people “condemned” or “hated” her for it.
“Not one life is worth what is happening now,” she added. “Children are the most important things in our lives.”
Ms Tikhanovskaya sent her children for safety to Lithuania for safety.
Earlier, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius tweeted about Ms. Tikhanovskaya’s whereabouts after rumors that she had disappeared.
There had been concern for her on Monday, but her campaign later said she was ‘safe’, without saying where.
Mr Linkevicius told the BBC Ms Tikhanovskaya had been in Belarus for seven hours.
“It turns out she visited the election commission, filed a complaint … but she stayed,” he said.
“No. [say] that she visited the friendship committee with a friendly visit would be too good. She was arrested.
“The option to leave the country was found to be the only rational one [one], I understand it.”
An employee of the opposition leader said she was escorted out of the country by authorities as part of a deal to allow the release of her campaign manager, Maria Moroz, who was arrested on Friday night. Mr Linkevicius confirmed that the two women had left the country together.
Who is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya?
The election campaign saw the rise of Ms Tikhanovskaya, 37, a former teacher whose mother was a stay-at-home mom, until she was in the political spotlight.
President Lukashenko dismissed Ms. Tikhanovskaya as a “poor little girl”, manipulated by foreign “puppet masters”.
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After the vote took place, her campaign said the results – which gave her just 9.9% of the vote – “did not correspond to reality” and promised to challenge “various falsifications”.
Ms Tikhanovskaya told reporters that she had in fact won the election, and called on the authorities to relinquish power. Protests began as soon as interviews were closed.
However, Mr Lukashenko said he would respond robustly to the protests and not allow the country to be torn apart.
A symbol of change, not a leader
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya went missing after filing an official complaint about the outcome of the election. She was quoted as saying “I made my decision”, but no one could confirm her stay for many hours.
Now Lithuania’s foreign minister says she’s there – and safe. How that happened is not yet clear.
On Monday, the KGB security services in Belarus claimed that there was a conspiracy to assassinate the opposition candidate – and make them a “sacrificial lamb” for Protestants. At a news conference in Minsk, she seemed nervous, a little uncertain; the same day she told the BBC she was scared.
However, the fact that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has fled will not affect the unusual mass protests that rocked Belarus a second night – crowds clashing with insurgent police.
They are organized through social media – especially Telegram – not by their campaign team and the candidate had not personally joined them. She only ran for president after her activist husband was arrested – and for voters, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has always been a symbol of change, a route to that, instead of a leader.
What happened in Monday’s protests?
Riot police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of protesters in the capital.
The brutality of the collapse has shocked observers, as many of these weapons have not been in Belarus for the weekend.
Polish broadcaster Belsat TV uploaded images of the police in the crowd.
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Protesters clash with police in Minsk
Reports say some of the protesters fought back, throwing petrol bombs. Protesters also tried to build barricades.
Officials said one protester died when an explosive device went into his hands – the first confirmed fatality since the clashes began.
A number of people were arrested. One journalist was injured, her colleagues and eyewitnesses said.
The BBC’s Abdujalil Abdurasulov in Minsk says protesters were put in police vans, and the sound of abuse could be heard as officers entered, and people inside called for help.
The scale of the protests and the violence used to disperse the crowds is unusual, and Protestants are struggling to learn the location of missing friends and family, our correspondent adds.
Protests were also held in other Belarusian cities.
The Internet, which was “significantly disrupted” on election day, remained largely unavailable for a second day, according to online monitor NetBlocks.
What is the context?
In the last presidential election in 2015, Mr Lukashenko was declared the winner with 83.5% of the vote. There were no serious challengers and election observers reported problems in counting and tabulating votes.
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Mr. Lukashenko cast his ballot at a polling station in Minsk
Anger against Mr Lukashenko’s government this time around has been fueled by her reaction to coronavirus.
The president has downplayed the outbreak, advising citizens to drink vodka and use saunas to fight the disease.
Belarus, which has a population of 9.5 million, has reported nearly 70,000 cases and nearly 600 deaths.
