UPDATE: Initial reports indicated Krystsina Tsimanouskaya departed Tokyo Narita (NRT) this morning on LOT Polish Airlines flight 80 at 10:20am, due to arrive in Warsaw at 2:00pm, where she had been granted a humanity visa by Poland.
However, fearing Belarusian officials might try to snatch her on the flight or in Poland, she secretly boarded Austrian Airlines flight 52, which departed Tokyo Narita at 11:05am and is due to land in Vienna at 4:05pm today.
Earlier in the day, she was seen leaving the Polish embassy in Tokyo in a van with police escorts.
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has alleged Belarusian authorities kidnapped her and tried to deport her to Belarus via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines after she complained on Instagram about her coaches. Hoping to avoid a precarious fate in Belarus, Tsimanouskaya sought refuge in Tokyo Airport. The incident marks another chapter of the fallout from the diversion of Ryanair flight 4978 from Vilnius to Minsk in which dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were pulled off the flight and detained.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya Seeks Refuge At Tokyo Haneda Airport, Now Seeks Asylum In Europe
According to Tsimanouskaya, members from of the Belarusian Olympic Team, run by the son of Belarus’s longtime president Alexander Lukashenko, appeared at her room on Sunday and informed her that she had been removed from the team and would be taken home immediately. She was then brought to the airport against her will in order to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. She refused to board.
Instead, upon arriving at Tokyo Haneda Airport, Tsimanouskay pleaded with Japanese police to help and placed herself in protective custody in order to avoid returning to Belarus.
Why Did Tsimanouskaya Seek Protection At Tokyo Haneda Airport?
She later explained to Reuters:
“I was removed from the team due to the fact that I spoke on my Instagram about the negligence of our coaches.”
She added that the trouble came when she was added to the team at the last moment:
“Some of our girls did not fly here to compete in the 4×400 meter relay because they didn’t have enough doping tests. And the coach added me to the relay without my knowledge. I spoke about this publicly. The head coach came over to me and said there had been an order from above to remove me.”
While Belarusian officials claimed Tsimanouskaya was withdrawn from further competition due to her “emotional, psychological state” the move came ahead of the women’s 200 meter race Tsimanouskaya was slated to compete in.
The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, which seeks to “provide support to the athletes who were detained and faced repressions for taking part in peaceful manifestations,” posted a video on Facebook with Tsimanouskay in which she said (in Belarusian):
“I ask the International Olympic Committee for help, pressure was put on me and they are trying to take me out of the country without my consent, so I ask the IOC to intervene in this.”
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee has noted that:
The IOC and Tokyo 2020 have spoken to Krystsina Tsymanouskaya directly tonight. She is with the authorities at Haneda airport and is currently accompanied by a staff member of Tokyo 2020. She has told us that she feels safe.
The IOC and Tokyo 2020 will continue their conversations with Krystsina Tsymanouskaya and the authorities to determine the next steps in the upcoming days.
But her current whereabouts is not clear. According to Reuters, Japanese lawmaker Taiga Ishikawa tried to visit her this morning and was informed by authorities she was no longer at the airport.
Aliaksandra Herasimenia, head of the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, noted that Tsimanouskaya is seeking refugee status in Austria or Germany. Already, Poland has reached out and expressed a willingness to help Tsimanouskaya:
“We appealed to a number of countries for help. But the first that reacted was the Polish consulate. We are ready to accept their help.”
Ryanair Parallels
Speaking on Telegram, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya linked Tsimanouskaya’s incident to the interdiction of Ryanair flight 4978. On May 23, 2021, FR4978 was traveling from Athens to Vilnius when it was ordered to land in Minsk by Belarusian air traffic control officials, who claimed there a was bomb threat onboard.
“No Belarusian who has left Belarus’ borders is safe because they can be kidnapped, just like Krystsina Tsimanouskaya or Roman Protasevich.”
Government officials have refused to comment.
CONCLUSION
Tsimanouskaya’s current whereabouts is unknown, though it appears she will avoid having to travel back to Belarus. Her decision to defect in Japan rather than waiting until she reached Istanbul, Turkey marked a strategic move. She now waits for asylum, hoping to land in Germany or Austria.
Hopefully whichever flight route she takes won’t fly over Belarusian air space. Really hope she successfully lands in Austria, Germany, or Poland safely.
What a sad story . Unfortunately this is how dictatorships operate , same thing In cuba where I am from . They kill jail and torture any dissidents or anyone who disagrees with the government
Hopefully this young lady can take refuge in Europe safely
Poland has offered her a residence visa
I worry about whatever family she may have in Belarus – they could be in danger.
This is what happens when speech and expression are a crime. We can’t even condemn the Belarusian government when speech is illegal in Europe. We have political persecution in the U.S. where conservatives are targeted at every level on charges that are never applied to leftist conduct. In the U.S. a conservative entering a building to peacefully protest is considered a high crime and burning neighborhoods and rioting is considered an acceptable demonstration for civil rights. Christians were arrested for going to church during Covid in the U.S. Our kids are being brainwashed in public schools.
It’s sad we can’t naturally separate and divide to form our own units so no one is forced to live how they don’t want. She’s certainly welcome in Poland and Austria.
Truly can’t tell if this is parody or legitimate anymore.
I’d call it deluded nonsense.
It’s a pity you used your message to tell lies. Trump invited an insurrection in this country and he and his followers are Republicans/Conservatives. The very reason this young lady is seeking asylum, loss of freedom, is what America would have under Trump who wants to be President For Life/Dictator. Learn the facts before you start selling another ‘Big Lie.’ Trump lost the election it was proven over and over again. And yet he and many of his cult followers refuse to admit it. Are you one of them?
You are no different than Belarus, Cathy
You demonize speech and a political party that you disagree with.
Jan 6 was political violence. No question about it. Same as the BLM riots. 2 sides of the same coin. But that does not mean we need to prevent them from speaking. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to say something that one side believes in. It means, yes, we have to listen to uncomfortable and even offensive speech.
Yes, Trump should shut his yap and worry about 2022. However, he has a right to keep squawking
And why nothing against Maxine Waters who recently said Biden should ignore the Supreme Court? Seems you are OK with your side in open revolt against parts of the government
“Jan 6 was political violence. No question about it. Same as the BLM riots. 2 sides of the same coin.”
Eh, not quite.
Yeah, Aaron, the riots last year were political violence. It was using violence to try to achieve a political end. Same as Jan 6.
2 sides of the same coin
Yeah, still not the same thing.
Calling people out for saying BS things isn’t the same as demonizing free speech.
@Derek, Uh…I feel like a huge mob, encouraged by a failed dictator’s propaganda that the election was stolen (even though he lost 50+ lawsuits in court because he could not provide any proof of this), overrunning the US Capitol bldg during the counting of electoral votes with the express purpose of preventing the certifying of the presidential election is just a little more severe than knocking over a Target. Some of those guys looked ready to execute members of congress or at least take hostages too.
Not excusing the bad actors during BLM protests but they are nowhere near the Jan 6 insurrection.
@Matt
They did far more than knock over a target. They burned large parts of major cities and caused numerous fatalities. Amazing how the Dems can excuse those riots because it was “their riots”
And Trump as a dictator? Please. Want to see a real dictator? Look at Biden and how he ignored a Supreme Court ruling yesterday. That is something even Trump never did
Cathy: move to Belarus or North Korea and then if you ever come back tell us how you liked it.
Now one side smiles while the other is cancelled.
Do you think these things always go in one direction?
Once the tool is made, it can’t be unmade. The trick is not to build it in the first place, not to cheer when the first thumb under the screw is someone else’s.
Is there any way that political opinions of people who get their idea about political situations from mass media be excluded from travel blogs? Concentrate on what you know – travel. Not intricacies of world politics
What’s sad is that even in Europe she isn’t likely safe. A Belarusian dissident in the Ukraine was murdered recently by agents of that government it would seem.
This is the next most interesting flight escape after Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Japan