On August 9, the third anniversary of the presidential election in Belarus that was followed by unprecedented protests against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a mass crackdown on dissent, the leader of the exiled opposition, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, vowed that "the truth is on our side."
In a video statement on YouTube, Tsikhanouskaya said the day of August 9, 2020, could have marked "the beginning of a new Belarus," where "there would never be political prisoners and persecution for dissent."
Tsikhanouskaya was the main opposition candidate allowed to take part in the 2020 presidential poll, which handed Lukashenka a sixth term as president. The opposition and the West have refused to recognize the results and called for a new, independently monitored vote.
Following the election, mass protests broke out against alleged fraud, and the demonstrations were met by a brutal crackdown from the Lukashenka government. Fearing for the safety of her family, Tsikhanouskaya left Belarus and currently lives in Lithuania.
"In 2020, we understood that we were challenging the system that existed for decades, the regime that put authorities above people. But no matter what, we stepped forward. Because we were confident that the truth was on our side," Tsikhanouskaya said, adding that three years after the election, Lukashenka's regime still "tried to deprive Belarusians of hope, their loved ones, freedom, motherland, and independence."
"However, no matter of how big the pain was, I have always believed in us, Belarusians. Because we remained unbreakable. To violence and repression, we responded by supporting political prisoners and their families. To the attempts to flatten down our history and language, we responded by switching to Belarusian language and publishing books," Tsikhanouskaya said.
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She also mentioned Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and Lukashenka's being Russian President Vladimir Putin's ally by saying, "to the efforts to deprive our country of its sovereignty, we responded by guerilla actions and bravery on the battlefields in Ukraine."
Ukrainian media reports have said a large group of Belarusian opposition volunteers, known as Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, has been fighting along Ukrainian forces against occupying Russian troops since the first days of the invasion.
"Every new challenge makes it harder for us to stay firm. But this is entirely up to us to choose between losing everything we have done in three years, getting disappointed in ourselves and our nation, or preserve all important landmarks, remember all those whom we lost on this path and keep moving forward," Tsikhanouskaya stated.
Organizers of the Anna Lindh Prize in Sweden said on August 9 that Tsikhanouskaya was awarded the prestigious human rights prize named after the late Swedish foreign minister, who was slain in 2003.
The prize will be officially awarded to Tsikhanouskaya on September 11 in a ceremony in Stockholm marking the 20th anniversary of Lindh's death.