Tokyo Olympics: Belarusian sprinter applies for asylum in Poland
‘Kidnapped’ sprinter applies for asylum at Tokyo’s Polish embassy and her husband ‘flees to the Ukraine’ after coaches ordered her to return to Belarus and left her fearing for her life
- Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was seen at the Polish embassy in Tokyo on Monday after night in ‘secure’ location
- Activists said the 24-year-old is applying for asylum in the country, fearing for her life if she returns to Belarus
- Meanwhile husband Arseni Zhdanevich fled Belarus into Ukraine along with their child, as opposition leaders warned dictator Alexander Lukashenko may target her family as a way of forcing her to comply
- Tsimanouskaya said coaches tried to force her to fly back home from Tokyo at the weekend after she criticised them on Instagram for entering her into a race that she has never trained for
- Find out the latest Tokyo Olympic news including schedule, medal table and results right here
‘Kidnapped’ sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya applied for asylum at the Polish embassy in Tokyo today as her husband fled Belarus into neighbouring Ukraine fearing repercussions after she criticised the ruling regime.
Tsimanouskaya, 24, was pictured carrying bags of possessions into the Polish diplomatic outpost today after spending the night in a ‘secure’ location, as activists said she is applying for a visa for the EU nation.
Vadim Krivosheyev, of the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, said a ticket has been purchased for her to fly to Warsaw on August 4 in the hopes she will be safe from dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s regime there.
Meanwhile husband Arseni Zhdanevich crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine along with their child, amid warnings that Lukashenko could seek to punish them as a way of pressuring Tsimanouskaya to comply.
Ukrainian officials confirmed that Zhdanevich had crossed the border, though did not say exactly when.
It comes a day after Tsimanouskaya handed herself over to police at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, claiming coaches were forcing her to fly back home after she criticised them on Instagram – adding that she feared for her safety if she boarded the flight.
Lukashenko, known as Europe’s last dictator, has cracked down on dissent since claiming victory in elections last year that he is widely thought to have rigged – jailing critics who have reported being beaten and electrocuted by police behind bars. At least 10 people have died as a result, opposition activist say.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, the Belarusian athlete who claimed Olympic officials from her country were trying to kidnap her after she criticised them, is pictured arriving at the Polish embassy in Tokyo as she seeks asylum
Tsimanouskaya hit out at her country’s Olympic body – run by dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s son, Viktor – after she was entered into a race without her knowledge, before ‘an order was received’ to send her home
Tsimanouskaya handed herself over to police at Haneda airport in Tokyo on Sunday, claiming she was being kidnapped before officers to her to a ‘secure’ location where she remained overnight
Tsimanouskaya says she fears being jailed if she is sent back to Belarus, where Lukashenko has made a habit of locking up his critics with many reporting being beaten and tortured by police behind bars
State-owned media have wasted no time in trashing Tsimanouskaya’s reputation back home, describing her as a ‘rotten dog’ and ‘Instagram diva’ who is a ‘disgrace to her country’.
A presenter for the state-owned ONT broadcaster ominously warned: ‘Something tells us that this is the end of Tsimanouskaya, not even as a sports person, but just as a person.’
Meanwhile an audio recording has been leaked purporting to capture the moment Tsimanouskaya was told she would be flying home after ‘an order was received’ from on-high.
The audio, released by Belarus Telegram channel ‘Nick and Mike’ which is hostile to Lukashenko, allegedly documents Tsimanouskaya arguing with two men identified as Belarus athletics head coach Yury Moisevich and Artur Shumak, deputy director of the country’s athletics training academy.
On the tape, the man believed to be Shumak tells her that ‘an order has been received’ for her to go home, saying the plan is to play it off in public as a sports injury but that in reality it is because of ‘accusations and comments that you made’ – after Tsimanouskaya criticised her trainers on Instagram.
A man believed to be Moisevich then tells her bluntly to ‘shut up’ and ‘obey’, adding that ‘nothing good will happen’ if she decides to stay in Tokyo.
But Tsimanouskaya pushes back, prompting Shumak to compare her to a fly caught in a web.
‘When a fly gets into a web, the more it moves, the more it gets entangled. This is how life works,’ he says. ‘We do stupid things, you have done something stupid. I hope you understand that.’
Moisevich then adds: ‘If (you) do not obey, then we have no escape routes. You know, if there is gangrene, they cut off half of the leg, otherwise they cannot save the whole organism.
‘Yes, sorry for the leg. Otherwise, stay with your leg and die.’
When Tsimanouskaya accuses him of ‘covering your own a**’ by ordering her to go home, he encourages her to be ‘smart’ and not resist. ‘Believe me, I’m not saving my own a**,’ he adds.
It is not clear how the audio was recorded or leaked, though it appears it was made before Tsimanouskaya was taken to the airport.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian sprinter has said she fears she will be jailed if she is forced to return to Belarus
The 24-year-old athlete fell foul of Lukashenko’s regime after criticising Belarus’s Olympic committee – headed by the dictator’s son, Viktor – after she was entered into a 4x400m relay event without her knowledge and never having trained for the event. Tsimanouskaya is a 200m sprinter.
Speaking on Sunday, she said that she is afraid of her safety if she returns to Belarus. Lukashenko has turned increasingly authoritarian since claiming victory in elections last year that are widely thought to have been rigged – jailing his critics en masse, with inmates reporting being beaten and tortured by police.
Earlier this year, a Ryanair flight carrying one of Lukashenko’s most-prominent critics – journalist Roman Protasevich – was diverted to Minsk so he could be arrested. His family believes he is now being tortured.
Tsimanouskaya said: ‘I am afraid that in Belarus they might put me in jail. I am not afraid that I will be fired or kicked out of the national [team]. I am worried about my safety. And I think that at the moment it is not safe for me in Belarus.’
Tsimanouskaya recounted how on Saturday she was told she needed to be ‘removed from the Olympics’ and claimed that Yuri Moisevich, the head coach of the Belarusian national team, warned her that if she did not agree to drop out of the 200m: ‘I will be removed from the national team, deprived of work and, perhaps, there will be some other consequences.’
The two eventually decided she would run but the following day she was instructed to pack up. She claims Moisevich told her the decision was no longer with the Ministry of Sport, and had been made ‘at a higher level’.
Tsimanouskaya is being assisted by the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF), which supports athletes jailed or sidelined for their political views. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also become involved in the case following an appeal from the athlete.
‘The IOC and Tokyo 2020 have spoken to Krystsina Tsymanouskaya directly tonight,’ the organisation said in a Twitter post on Sunday.
‘She is with the authorities at Haneda airport and is currently accompanied by a staff member of Tokyo 2020. She has told us that she feels safe,’ it said in a tweet.
‘The IOC and Tokyo 2020 will continue their conversations with Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and the authorities to determine the next steps in the upcoming days.’
Tsimanouskaya told Tribuna that she now plans to seek asylum and will make a decision on which country to seek it in tomorrow.
‘We will act step by step. I plan to leave Tokyo, but not on the flight they wanted me to be. Now I am under the protection of the police,’ she said.
A source at the BSSF had earlier told Reuters that Tsimanouskaya planned to request asylum in Germany or Austria on Monday.
Meanwhile foundation’s head, former Olympic swimmer Aliaksandra Herasimenia, told the Associated Press that Poland may also offer assistance.
The sprinter’s dilemma began when she alleged in a now-deleted Instagram video that she was entered into a 4x400m relay event on Thursday at short notice by Belarusian officials after some team mates were found to be ineligible to compete.
Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (right) is seen at Haneda international airport in Tokyo
Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (centre) is escorted by police officers at Haneda international airport
She claimed that following the release of the video coaching staff had come to her room on Sunday and told her to pack to return home.
Tsimanouskaya told Tribuna that she packed as slowly as possible, while contacting relatives and authorities for advice. She said was told to seek help from police at the airport.
The BSSF said Tsimanouskaya had been targeted by supporters of the Belarusian government, led by Alexander Lukashenko, who is often dubbed ‘Europe’s last dictator’.
‘The campaign was quite serious and that was a clear signal that her life would be in danger in Belarus,’ Alexander Opeikin, a spokesman for the BSSF, told The Associated Press in an interview.
‘We appealed to a number of countries for help,’ said Herasimenia, a three-time Olympic medallist. ‘But the first that reacted was the Polish consulate. We are ready to accept their help.’
Tsimanouskaya summoned Japanese police at Haneda Airport and did not board a flight departing for Istanbul. Foreign ministry officials arrived later at the airport, Opeikin said.
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, the Belarusian Olympic Committee said that national coaches had decided to withdraw Tsimanouskaya from the Tokyo Games on doctors’ advice about her ’emotional, psychological state’.
She refuted this assessment, telling Tribuna she was never visited by a doctor.
‘No doctors came to me, no one examined me. I have a good psychological state, even though such a situation has occurred. I carry on normally, I have no health problems, no injuries, no mental issues. I was ready to run,’ Tsimanouskaya said.
The IOC had been in dispute with the Belarus National Olympic Committee ahead of the Tokyo Games.
The Belarus National Olympic Committee has been led for more than 25 years by Lukashenko and his son, Viktor.
Both Lukashenkos are banned from the Tokyo Olympics by the IOC, which investigated complaints from athletes that they faced reprisals and intimidation in fallout from protests since last August after the country’s disputed presidential election.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was due to compete in the women’s 200 meters on Monday, told Reuters she did not plan to return to her country and that she had sought the protection of Japanese police at Tokyo’s Haneda airport so she would not have to board the flight
The suspected attempted kidnapping comes months after Western countries condemned the government of Kremlin-backed strongman Lukashenko after it scrambled a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet to hijack a commercial passenger plane so it could arrest a dissident journalist.
Tsimanouskaya competed for Belarus on the first day of track events on Friday at the National Stadium in Tokyo. She placed fourth in her first-round heat in the 100 meters, timing 11.47 seconds, and did not advance.
She filmed a video that was published on Telegram earlier on Sunday by the BSSF, in which she asked the IOC to get involved in her case.
She said: ‘I am asking the International Olympic Committee for help. There is pressure against me and they are trying to get me out of the country without my permission. So, I am asking the IOC to get involved in this.’
Tsimanouskaya told Reuters from the airport: ‘Some of our girls did not fly here to compete in the 4x400m relay because they didn’t have enough doping tests. And the coach added me to the relay without my knowledge. I spoke about this publicly. The head coach came over to me and said there had been an order from above to remove me.
Dissident journalists said Belarusian state media launched a campaign against Tsimanouskaya after she criticised Belarus national team’s management on Friday.
Minsk-based journalist Hanna Liubakova posted a video which appeared to show the athlete at the airport, tweeting: ‘Tsimanouskaya was accompanied to the airport by two members of the Belarusian sports delegation. She is now with the police and volunteers. When asked if she was afraid to fly to #Belarus, Tsimanouskaya answered ‘yes’.’
The sprinter said that she had reached out to members of the Belarusian diaspora in Japan to retrieve her at the airport, adding: ‘I think I am safe. I am with the police.’
She later said that members of the diaspora had come to stand outside the airport to offer their support.
Tsimanouskaya (left) competes in the women’s 100m heats at the 2020 Tokyo Games on Saturday
Jailed journalist Roman Protasevich last appeared at a press conference in Minsk in June, telling reporters he felt ‘wonderful’
Vladimir Putin (left) was virtually the only supporter of Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko (left) over the hijacking of a Ryanair passenger plane earlier this month which was escorted to Minsk by a fighter jet and forced to land so authorities could arrest a dissident journalist
The incident is reminiscent of the kidnapping of Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega in Minsk after Lukashenko scrambled a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet to escort a commercial passenger plane back to Belarus.
Ryanair flight FR4978 had been flying from Athens in Greece to Vilnius in Lithuania in May when it was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk amid fake reports of an IED on board.
Protasevich was then seen on June 4 in a tearful interview aired on state media in which he confessed to calling for protests last year and praised Lukashenko.
The incident prompted the European Union to ban Belarusian airlines, urge EU airlines not to cross into Belarusian airspace and threaten tough economic sanctions on Lukashenko’s government.
The British Government instructed all UK planes to cease flying over Belarus. Some countries have also imposed sanctions against Belarusian officials over a crackdown on demonstrators and a presidential election last year that the opposition said was rigged.
Lukashenko has kept a tight grip on Belarus, a former Soviet state, since 1994. Faced with mass street protests last year over the elections, he ordered a violent crackdown on protesters. Lukashenko denies the allegations of vote-rigging.
Unusually in a country where elite athletes often rely on government funding, some prominent Belarusian athletes joined the protests.
Several were jailed, including Olympic basketball player Yelena Leuchanka and decathlete Andrei Krauchanka.
Ryanair flight FR4978 had been flying from Athens in Greece to Vilnius in Lithuania when it was escorted by a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet to Belarus amid fake reports of an IED on board
Belarusian dog handler checks luggage from the Ryanair flight in Minsk International Airport on May 23
Belarus was rocked by strikes and weekly street protests after authorities announced that Lukashenko, who has ruled in authoritarian fashion since 1994, had secured re-election on August 9, 2020 with 80 per cent of votes
Others lost their state employment or were kicked off national teams for supporting the opposition.
During the Cold War, scores of sports people and cultural figures defected from the Soviet Union and its satellite states during overseas competitions or tours. But the freedom of travel that came with the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union saw the need for such dramatic acts dwindle.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin was virtually the only world leader to defend Lukashenko over the hijacking. Russia promised Belarus a £1.06billion loan last year as part of Moscow’s efforts to stabilise its neighbour and longstanding ally. Minsk received a first instalment of £352million in October.
Following talks in Sochi, Russia said it will move ahead with a second £352million loan to Belarus.
In May, the head of NATO linked the Kremlin to the hijack of the Ryanair jet by Belarus, having previously described the incident as a ‘state-sponsored hijacking’.
Europe’s last dictator: Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994
Born in 1954 in the village of Kopys, in what was then the USSR, Alexander Lukashenko was the son of an unknown father – thought by some to by a Roma gypsy – and a labourer mother, Ekaterina Lukashenko.
He studied in Belarus and graduated from the Mogilyov Teaching Institute in 1975, then went on to study at the Belarusian Agricultural Academy in the 1980s.
He did a brief stint in the Belarusian border guards and also served in the Soviet Army, becoming involved in politics as a teacher within the military, and as the leader of a Leninist organisation in the city of Mogilev.
After leaving the military he joined the ranks of the Communist Party and was appointed leader of a state farm, before being elected to the Supreme Council of Belarus in 1990.
Lukashenko made his name as an anti-corruption campaigner and emerged as a strong political ally of Moscow, and was the only deputy to oppose the December 1991 agreement that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In 1994 he appealed to Russia to form a new union of Slavic states, shortly before his election as President of Belarus – promising stronger ties between the two nations.
Two years later, he persuaded voters to approve a new constitution allowing him to extend his term in office, rule by degree, and to appoint a majority of parliament.
Lukashenko used those powers to extend his term in 1999, and won an election in 2001 and another in 2006 – amid allegations of vote-rigging that resulted EU leaders banning him from their countries.
Election victories – accompanied by more allegations of fixing – followed again in 2010 and 2015.
Lukashenko’s popularity declined rapidly between 2015 and 2020, spurred on by his increasingly erratic behaviour coupled with mismanagement of the Covid crisis – during which he claimed vodka and saunas could prevent the disease.
Amid a wave of dissent, another election was held in 2020 which returned an official victory for Lukashenko with 80 per cent of the vote – though few believe this to be accurate.
His main opponent – Sergei Tikhanovsky – was arrested in the run-up to the ballot, leaving wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to run in his stead. She subsequently fled the country to Lithuania after being targeted by police.
Anger at the result sparked the largest wave of protests in Belarus since its Soviet days, with mass demonstrations, strikes and calls for a change of leadership.
Lukashenko responded by sending riot police on to the streets to round up dissenters, with an estimated 25,000 arrested by November. Eight have so-far died amid the crackdown – the most-recent of whom was political prisoner Vitold Ashurok.
Lukashenko has also cracked down on journalists, raiding the offices of the country’s largest newspaper Tut.by last week along with the home of its editor on charges of ‘tax evasion’.
On Sunday he staged his most-daring move yet, by diverting a Ryanair jet carrying dissident reporter Roman Protasevich to Lithuania before arresting him.
Mr Protasevich’s allies, including Ms Tsikhanouskaya, say they now fear for his life.
