The Lithuanian authorities refused to extradite the leader of the Belarusian opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in response to a request from the Investigative Committee (IC) of Belarus. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.
According to representatives of the department, Vilnius never extradits people who are subject to political persecution in their homeland. “Minsk knows this very well,” the ministry said.
On March 3, the Belarusian Investigative Committee announced that it was initiating the process of extradition of Tikhanovskaya from Lithuania. The politician is accused of calling for the seizure of power, organizing an extremist group and other crimes. She was put on the wanted list in Belarus and Russia. Tikhanovskaya herself considers her persecution to be exclusively political.