The International Olympic Committee is investigating the case of Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya. The athlete was apparently supposed to be brought back to Belarus against her will. But she managed to escape.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched an investigation into the case of Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanovskaya, who is currently seeking protection from the Belarusian authorities at the Polish embassy in Tokyo. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Tuesday that a formal investigation had been opened. In the course of the day, the committee is also expecting a report from the Belarusian National Olympic Committee (NOK) on the sprinter’s allegations.
“We have to find out the facts,” Adams told journalists in Tokyo. In the case, the IOC would have to “listen to all those involved”.
Kristina Timanowskaja is in the Polish embassy
The activist organization Global Athlete had previously asked the IOC to immediately expel the Belarusian NOK. The alleged attempt to kidnap Timanovskaya is “another example of the alarming abuse of athletes in Belarus”.
Timanowskaja has been in the Polish embassy in Japan’s capital since Monday evening. The sprinter said she was supposed to be forced to return to Minsk early after she had criticized Belarusian sports officials. Poland issued the 24-year-old a humanitarian visa on Monday. She was expected to leave for Warsaw in the near future.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook that it had been ensured that Timanowskaya was “safe in the Polish embassy in Tokyo”. “If necessary, we will offer her the opportunity to continue her career.”
Timanovskaya signed an open letter
Timanovskaya was one of more than 2,000 Belarusian sports greats who wrote an open letter calling for new elections in their home country and the release of political prisoners. The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled for almost three decades, was declared the winner a year ago after the presidential election, which was overshadowed by massive allegations of fraud. Critics assume that in reality his rival Svetlana Tichanovskaya received the most votes.
After the election it was in Belarus given unprecedented mass protests, which were brutally suppressed by the authorities. The EU imposed sanctions on the leadership in Minsk for the actions of the authorities and the alleged electoral fraud.
In view of Timanovskaya’s allegations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Lukashenko of an “act of transnational repression” on Tuesday. The Belarusian approach violates “the Olympic spirit,” he tweeted.
Lukashenko and his son Viktor are excluded from the Olympic competitions as spectators. Before the start of the Games, the ruler had threatened the Olympic participants in his country and warned of success. “If you come back without anything, it is better for you not to come back at all,” he said.
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