After fear of being forcibly repatriated, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya remains safe in the Polish embassy in Tokyo.

The Poles granted a humanitarian visa to the Belarusian sprinter who opposed her forcible repatriation on Sunday.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched an investigation into this affair, which prompted the international community to react on Tuesday, August 3.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya did not speak to the media, still stationed in front of the embassy.

It could fly to Poland on Wednesday.

"An affront to fundamental rights"

His case continues to spark international reactions condemning Belarus, a former Soviet republic ruled with an iron fist by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994.

"The Lukashenko regime attempted to commit a new act of transnational repression (...). Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to fundamental rights and cannot be tolerated," reacted on Twitter the secretary of US State Antony Blinken.

The Lukashenka regime sought to commit another act of transnational repression: attempting to force Olympian Krystsyna Tsimanouskaya to leave simply for exercising free speech.

Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to basic rights, and cannot be tolerated.

- Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) August 3, 2021

The pro-democracy movement in Belarus, which had become massive a year ago, is severely repressed by the authorities.

Thousands of opponents have been arrested or had to go into exile.

Vitali Chychov, a Belarusian pro-democracy activist exiled in Ukraine, was also found hanged near his home in Kiev, local police said Tuesday, according to which it could be a "murder camouflaged as suicide".

In May, Belarusian authorities arrested exiled opposition journalist Roman Protassevich after hijacking the airliner he was on, sparking international outcry.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said on Sunday that she was forced to put an end to her participation in the Games by the coach of her team, before being accompanied to the airport by officials of the Belarusian National Olympic Committee for repatriation.

A few days earlier, she had openly criticized the Belarusian Athletics Federation for wanting to force her to participate in the 4x400m relay, when she was initially supposed to run the 100m and 200m, because two other athletes from the country did not. had not carried out a sufficient number of doping controls, she said.

@GlobalAthleteHQ demands that the IOC suspends the Belarusian Olympic Committee immediately.

pic.twitter.com/4zcxIwdGvw

- Hajo Seppelt (@hajoseppelt) August 2, 2021

Fearing to end up in prison in Belarus, she called on the IOC to intervene and had finally spent the night from Sunday to Monday "in safety" in an airport hotel. 

Call for the suspension of Belarus

The sports union Global Athlete on Monday called on the IOC to suspend the Belarusian Olympic Committee, led by Viktor Lukashenko, the son of the President of Belarus, and to allow the country's athletes to compete under a neutral banner.

The Tsimanouskaya affair "is yet another example of the alarming abuse of athletes in Belarus," Global Athlete denounced in a statement.

The IOC has launched an official investigation into the incident and was awaiting a report from the Belarusian Olympic Committee on Tuesday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.

The IOC must "hear all stakeholders" to establish the facts, he insisted.

The Japanese government declined to comment on the matter.

With AFP

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