WARSAW: Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said anti-government demonstrations in her country should remain peaceful during a visit to the Polish capital Warsaw on Wednesday.
Belarus has been rocked by mass protests since the re-election of veteran President Alexander Lukashenko in an Aug. 9 election his opponents say was rigged.
U.N. human rights experts say they received reports of hundreds of cases of torture, beatings and mistreatment of protesters by police.
“The protests must remain peaceful… I think it is impossible to fight violence and give violence,” she said during a speech at Warsaw University.
Tsikhanouskaya, the main candidate standing against Lukashenko in the election, fled to Lithuania after the vote which her supporters say she won.
Poland, along with Lithuania and Latvia, has sought to “set an example” for the European Union by offering extensive financial and social support to the Belarusian opposition movement.
In an earlier appearance at the Belarusian House NGO, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland would unveil more support for Belarus.
“We will soon present an economic plan for the Belarusian people, which is to show that Europe is open to Belarus,” Morawiecki said.
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