Translated material
Petersburg: Oppositionist from Belarus asks for refuge in Russia
A member of the strike committee of the Belarusian enterprise "Belaruskali" Andrei Prilutsky asked for political asylum in Russia. This was reported by "New Gazeta" with reference to his lawyer Andrei Fedorkov.
According to Fedorkov, the application for the shelter Prilutsky sent to the St. Petersburg department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “His criminal prosecution is due to his participation in the strike movement and is political in nature,” the lawyer noted.
The 38-year-old electrician Prilutsky was detained at the request of the Belarusian authorities on December 29 at the St. Petersburg airport "Pulkovo". He is arrested and is in jail. In Belarus, he is suspected of applying violence to police officers of Soligorsk on the day of the presidential election. Prilutsky himself insists that on that day he was beaten by unknown men in balaclavas, from whom he tried to protect his acquaintance.
According to Fedorkov, the consideration of the application for asylum may take up to four months. In Soligorsk, Prilutsky had a wife and three minor children.
- The unrest in Belarus began in August 2020, after the victory in the elections of the President of the Republic Alexander Lukashenko with a result of 80 percent of the vote. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya gained 10 percent. At the same time, a number of candidates, such as Sergey Tikhanovsky and Viktor Babariko, who were imprisoned, did not reach the elections.
- During the protests, some opposition politicians were either forced to leave the country, or exported by force to the borders, like Valery Tsepkalo and Maria Kolesnikova. Belarus also left Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
- From the very beginning of the authorities, Belarus took a tough position in relation to protesters, and many shares were accompanied by open violence by the police.