Lithuania has refused a request from Minsk to extradite Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the former opposition frontrunner against Alexander Lukashenko, who was forced to flee to Vilnius in August last year. Elena Martinonienė, spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office, told news sources that Minsk’s extradition request was rejected on the grounds envisaged by a legal assistance treaty between the two countries. She gave no further details.
Belarusian Prosecutor General Andrei Shved told local media on July 11 that Lithuania had turned down Minsk’s extradition request without providing any legal grounds.
In March, law enforcement bodies in Belarus said they were initiating an extradition process against Tikhanovskaya, because her close associates were allegedly organising mass unrest.
Meanwhile, Tikhanovskaya’s representatives said she only supported peaceful opposition to Belarus’ authoritarian government.
The former presidential candidate took refuge in Lithuania shortly after the August 2020 election in which she claimed victory against the authoritarian leader who has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and Western democracies say the election was rigged.
News from LRT.lt
