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Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian Olympian, rejected her team’s order to return home early. She left Tokyo on Wednesday to seek asylum in Europe.
The 24-year-old sprinter claimed last week that she was worried about her safety and Poland was granted a humanitarian visa after the stalemate.
After spending two nights at the Polish Embassy, on Wednesday, wearing jeans, a blue shirt and sunglasses, she boarded the plane at Tokyo Narita Airport with the words “I RUN CLEAN” on it.
Before leaving Japan, Zimanusskaya said that she hopes to continue her career, but safety is her top priority.
It was originally expected that she would leave the Japanese capital and fly to Warsaw, but a Polish government source told Reuters that after news of the plan became public and reporters reserved seats on the flight to Poland, she was at the last minute for safety reasons. Changed the route.
Instead, she flew to Vienna, where she was expected to travel to Warsaw.
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya boarded a flight from Tokyo to Vienna #OS52 ——It will be here soon.
As expected, the Boeing 777 avoided Belarusian airspace and flew over Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/7Dniu9z5cw
-Alex Maceras (@AlexInAir) August 4, 2021
Polish sources said that due to an incident in May, when a Ryanair flight was diverted and landed in Belarus, a dissident journalist was subsequently arrested, which caused great concern.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydac said that Zimanusskaya is still under the care of the country’s foreign affairs department.
She will be reunited with her husband in Poland, who fled Belarus during developments this week and is reportedly planning to seek asylum in Europe.
The Austrian Ministry of Interior told Reuters on Wednesday that the police will take care of Zimanusskaya’s personal safety after her arrival, and the athlete will be placed and cared for in a separate transit area until she continues to fly.
“If an asylum application is filed, it will be processed within the existing legislative framework,” the Ministry of Interior said in an e-mailed statement.
Fear of “punishment”
Zimanusskaya’s experience at the Tokyo Olympics became an international issue on Sunday when she accused the Belarusian team officials of rushing her to the airport and trying to send her on a plane to Belarus against her will because she made it public. Criticized them.
Team officials made it clear that she will face “punish“Back home, she said on Tuesday.
Zimanusskaya refused to board the plane and sought protection from the Japanese police. Later, she went to the Polish Embassy in Tokyo because of numerous reports that she was seeking asylum in Europe.
Her case focused on the political discord in Belarus. After a wave of protests after the controversial August 2020 elections, the authorities cracked down on dissidents and the opposition claimed to have been manipulated to allow long-term positions. The President’s Alexander Lukashenko continues to be in power.
The Belarusian authorities characterized anti-government protesters as criminals or violent revolutionaries supported by the West, and thousands of them were arrested.
In another development that caused further concern among the Belarusian opposition, a Belarusian activist Was found hanging On Tuesday, the day after he was reported missing, he was in a park near his home in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.
IOC survey
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has launched a formal investigation into Zimanusskaya’s case, said on Wednesday that it had received a report from the Belarusian team.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said: “The IOC is setting up a disciplinary committee to ascertain the facts of this case and to listen to the two officials allegedly involved in this incident-Artur Schumacher and The opinion of Yuri Moisevic.”
The National Olympic Committee of Belarus (NOC) has previously stated that the coaches withdrew him from the Olympics on the advice of doctor Zimanusskaya’s “emotional and psychological state”.
Critics of the Lukashenko government, including the United States, condemned Zimanusskaya’s treatment.
US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken accused Belarus of trying to force her to go home on Tuesday, which is a kind of “transnational repression.”
He said on Twitter: “This kind of behavior violates the Olympic spirit and is an insult to basic rights and cannot be tolerated.”
Poland is home to a growing number of Belarusian dissidents, and it condemns the so-called “criminal attempt” to kidnap athletes.
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