MOSCOW – A Belarusian opposition figure who fled to Russia after being denied a vote in next month’s presidential election has said he would probably not come home if authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko won a new term.
Valery Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and founder of a thriving high-tech progression park, stood out as one of Lukashenko’s main competitions in the August 9 vote.
But he denied a place in the poll for technical reasons two weeks ago. Two other opposition figures were imprisoned before the elections: aspiring candidate Viktor Babariko, former headmaster of a primary bank, and prominent opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, whose wife Svetlana is the only opposition candidate authorized to take part in the vote.
Lukashenko has been in force for 25 years, during which time he has suppressed dissent and independent media. Prominent political parties in conflict have been imprisoned, imprisoned without continuity for years.
Tsepkalo, who fled to Russia last week with his children, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he had won reports that his arrest was imminent and that he hoped to be disadvantaged by his paternity rights and take his children.
Previous presidential elections in Belarus have been widely criticized for being neither loose nor fair, and Lukashenko will most likely retain power. If that happens, Tsepkalo says he may not be able to return.
“It would be for me to go home, because I would be taken hostage,” he added. “If he (takes the youth hostage, then he can take each of his wartime political parties hostage”).
Pre-election manifestations of opposition applicants have been unusually giant and active this year, motivated by tiredness with Lukashenko’s radical regime and his refusal to take strong action to block the spread of COVID-19. Tsepkalo said the participation could have been possibly his loss.
“When the number (of supporters) began to exceed three hundred and reached 500, Lukashenko took the decision to retire as the last candidate among those three primary candidates,” he said.
Lukashenko “is afraid, he’s afraid,” Tsepkalo said. “He has shown cowardly behavior because he continues to braugly oppose any opposition leader, as opposed to any opposition candidate.”