Фото: Reform.news
During a speech by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the 5th Conference of Belarusians Worldwide in Warsaw, several participants displayed banners reading “Conference ≠ results,” “Tsikhanouskaya, where is the mandate?”, “Tsikhanouskaya = Lukashenka,” and “Sveta, give the money to Sasha, clear your conscience.”
On the eve of the event, opponents of Tsikhanouskaya’s Office announced a protest against what they described as “impostors and fraudsters who hide behind the name of the Belarusian people, unlawfully appropriate funds from Western donors, are involved in personal data leaks and assist politically motivated arrests”. The organisers also stated that such conferences are not aimed at solving real problems but are used for “spending allocated funding”.
Blogger Siarhei Piatrukhin, who had also called on supporters via social media to take part in the protest, came to the venue. He displayed a banner reading “Information servicing of the democratic forces is not journalism. Who do the ‘independent media’ serve?”.
Journalists asked Tsikhanouskaya to comment on the incident. She said she had been aware of the planned protest.
“I saw and, in fact, knew that people were being invited on social media to come to the conference and express their opinion. But we all have the right to do that. Perhaps when the session begins, I will invite these people and simply talk to them: what the issue is, what questions they have, and I will try to respond. Because most often…
I hope they came with specific proposals on how something can be improved, if, for example, they are dissatisfied with my work. It is necessary to clarify: is this against me personally or against the conference? I do not know these nuances. Yes, I saw it. It is good that we have such an opportunity”, the politician said.