Former presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called on national hockey federations to boycott the World Championship in Minsk, Interfax-Zapad reports.
“Many hockey players, national teams and federations of countries are not going to go to the championship, which is a screen for legal default, torture and murder. For them, like us, freedom, human dignity and the law are more important than any posts and awards. The championship should be moved from Minsk, “Tikhanovskaya said.
She noted that the visit of President of the International Ice Hockey Federation Rene Fasel to President Alexander Lukashenko indicates inconsistency.
“A sports festival cannot be held in a country where political prisoners are sitting in punishment cells several kilometers from ice arenas,” the oppositionist is sure.
Since August 9, mass protests of citizens who disagree with the official results of the presidential elections, according to which Lukashenko received 80 percent of the vote, and Tikhanovskaya 10 percent, have continued in Belarus. The opposition calls for the postponement of the Ice Hockey World Championship, which is to be held in Latvia and Belarus in 2021, from Minsk.