Tikhanovskaya evacuated from Belarus by Belarusian authorities, she had no choice - representative
MINSK. Aug 11 (Interfax) - Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was evacuated from the country by the Belarusian authorities, Tikhanovskaya's authorized representative Olga Kovalkova said in an interview with the tut.by online news service on Tuesday.
"Svetlana had no other choice; Belarusian authorities took her out of the country. What's important is that she is free and alive," Kovalkova said.
Tikhanovskaya's departure "made it possible to free Maria Moroz [head of Tikhanovskaya's campaign staff, who had been earlier detained by Belarusian law enforcement agencies], who was a hostage in this situation," she said.
"They left together," Kovalkova said.
"Part of Svetlana's team is still being held hostage," she said.
Speaking later in an interview with Interfax, Kovalkova confirmed that, as she sees it, "Svetlana decided to leave the country under pressure from the Belarusian authorities."
"There had been no talk whatsoever about her leaving before she visited the CEC [the Central Elections Commission, to file a complaint over the official outcome of the presidential election]," she said.
When Tikhanovskaya went to the CEC, a "government representative" had a conversation with her there, Kovalkova said.
"I can't name this person now, but it was a government representative," she said.
"In this situation, Svetlana had no choice," Kovalkova said.
"Tikhanovskaya wasn't planning on leaving Belarus," she said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said earlier on Tuesday that Tikhanovskaya had departed for Lithuania and is safe.
Valery Vakulchik, the head of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB), said on Monday that, due to fears of a provocation and a possible assassination attempt on Tikhanovskaya, the KGB dispatched 120 trained security officers to guard her campaign staff on election day.