Tsikhanouskaya praises Lithuania's bid to prosecute Lukashenko at ICC

Belarusian president and other officials are accused of crimes against humanity, including the mass forced deportations of refugees.

Transcript

00:00Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has praised Lithuania's decision

00:07to seek the prosecution of President Alexander Lukashenko and other senior officials at the

00:13International Criminal Court.

00:17Lithuania announced its ICC referral on Monday, accusing the Belarus officials of committing

00:23crimes against humanity through mass force deportation and the persecution of political

00:28opponents.

00:29We can't win this fight alone. We need allies. We need international institutions and organizations

00:34and governments as allies. Sometimes it looks like nothing is happening. But today's referral

00:41to ICC shows that all our efforts are succeeding. And it will be a huge boost on Belarusian

00:51civil society to continue its job.

00:54While Belarus is not a member state of the court, Lithuania argues its officials can

00:59be prosecuted since parts of the alleged crimes occurred in the Baltic nation, which

01:03is a member.

01:06Government critics in Belarus have faced a severe crackdown since nationwide protests

01:10erupted in 2020 after disputed election results gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office.