Tens of thousands of people in Belarus have been swept up in the crackdown launched by Alexander Lukashenko after he was declared winner of a presidential election last August that much of Belarus rejected as rigged. His main challenger, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, said she was forced to leave Belarus for Lithuania a day after the August 9 poll amid threats to herself and her family. She is not the only leading Belarusian opposition figure to have faced threats, jail time, or other pressure from Lukashenko and the state.
RFE/RL: 5 Belarusian opposition figures – what fates they face
Presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (C) participates in a campaign rally near the city of Maladzechna, some 70 kilometres northwest of Minsk on July 31, 2020. She is joined by Veronika Tsepkalo (L), the wife Valery Tsepkalo who was bared from running for presidency and Maria Kolesnikova (R), campaign chief of Viktor Babariko who was imprisoned prior to the elections on dubious tax evasion charges.
