DISINFO: Lithuania provided Tsikhanouskaya with a villa, a manor house and a team of stylists paid by taxpayers
SUMMARY
Lithuania provided Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya with an asylum, a villa, a manor house, bodyguards, and, according to Raman Pratasevich, a team of stylists and designers paid by Lithuanian taxpayers.
RESPONSE
Recurrent disinformation narrative against the Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the Belarusian opposition in general.
This disinformation claim aims to smear Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya as puppet of the West, allegedly sponsored by unwitting Lithuanian taxpayers. No evidence is presented to back such claims.
After his recent arrest on 23 May 2021, Raman Pratasevich is under pressure from the Belarus authorities who is using him for staged performances and so-called "testimonies" which cannot be taken for granted under these circumstances.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was the main opposition candidate in the Belarusian Presidential election and was forced to go into exile in Lithuania after being detained and receiving threats following the beginning of the protests.
The Belarusian opposition, represented by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was awarded the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the highest tribute paid by the European Union to Human Rights work.
See other cases connected to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: In Belarus, Poland focuses exclusively on relations with the opposition; Poland and Lithuania finance Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s political agenda; Tsikhanouskaya is controlled by foreign puppeteers, primarily Lithuanian ones.