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15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 DECEMBER 2020 SAKHAROV PRIZE FOR FREEDOM OF THOUGHT EU action In an emergency European Council meet- ing, Tsikhanouskaya had already urged EU member states through a video appeal not to recognise these "fraudulent elections". In response, Lukashenko stated that this was an attempt at a political 'coup'. Fur- thermore, he claims that the creation of the Coordinating Council violates the country's constitution, arguing that "the creation and the activities of the CC are aimed at seizing power and inflicting damage to national se- curity". Consequently, members of the CC were either brought in for questioning, de- tained, or accused of organising unauthor- ised mass events. EU leaders and member states have shown their support towards the Belarusian people with their mutual decision to disregard the electoral results, meaning that Lukashen- ko is not recognised as the president of the state. "The elections were neither free nor fair, therefore we do not recognise the re- sult," the EU has declared, underlining that Belarusians "have a right to determine their future". In light of the brutality imposed by Lukashenko's totalitarian state, the EU Council has unanimously decided to im- pose sanctions against 40 individuals who were identified as being responsible for the intimidation and repression against peace- ful demonstrators, opposition members and journalists in the wake of the 2020 presiden- tial election in Belarus, as well as for miscon- duct of the electoral process. Such restric- tions include travel bans and the freezing of assets, funds or economic resources. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated that: "One day, we will exhaust the number of people that could be sanctioned. And now we have to go to more sensitive issues, which is sanctioning firms, which will affect the de- velopment of the normal economic activity." The European Parliament wants EU sanc- tions to include Lukashenko, who is not the legitimate president. It considers Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Coordination Council as the legitimate representative of the people, and called for new free and fair elections to be held under international supervision. This feature is in partnership with the Eu- ropean Parliament office Malta. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service VERONIKA Tsepkalo is a member of the democratic opposition in Be- larus. Her husband, Valery Tsepka- lo, had planned on contesting the 2020 Belarusian presidential elec- tion, but then opted to join forces with other opposition candidates and united their campaigns. He soon fled the country with their children out of fear for their safe- ty, while Veranika became his rep- resentative at campaign rallies. On the eve of the election she too fled the country fearing the loss of her freedom, reuniting with her hus- band in Moscow. INTERVIEW by Nicole Meilak What does this mean to you as the democratic opposition to have your work recognised by the EU in this way? For us, winning the Sakharov prize is an acknowledgement of our fight. This was an exceptional year for the democratic opposition, but this has been going on for years. Viktor Ba- bariko, my husband Valery Tespkalo, and many others have all challenged the government when Lukashenko was stronger. The Sakharov prize isn't only an achievement for these people – it's dedicated to every person in Belarus fighting for democracy. How do you think that this could play out back home in Belarus? Do you think having your work recognised in this way could be an added blow for the Lukashenko government? There's no way back for Belarus now. If we give up now Lukashen- ko will remain in power for the next five or so years. Back home I'm sure they'll continue to fight, we have seen many solidarity marches in the past months. The problem is that no op- position is allowed – if you are in the opposition you are not allowed to stay in the country. We don't want to become a concen- tration camp. We're not asking for anything big either – we just want a simple right to vote and to have free and fair elections. What actions do you feel the EU should take against authoritarian governments inimical to democra- cy? Firstly it's good that the EU did not acknowledge the results of the elec- tion this year. Sanctions have been key in punishing the Lukashenko gov- ernment, both now and during previ- ous uprisings. Maybe more impor- tantly would be to provide financial help. People are receiving high fines for protesting, and particular help is needed for women's groups in Bela- rus experiencing threats of rape. The protests have been peaceful – in months of demonstrations not a single car was burned. But many have been arrested and we're seeing major human rights violations in Belarus's prisons. Men and women have been raped and killed. People are being raped, killed and tortured yet not a single criminal case was registered. Despite his hesitance to involve Russia further into domestic affairs, Lukashenko (left) is using Vladimir Putin's influence to play it out against the European Union Below left: Armed Lukashenko troopers approaching demonstrators with a water cannon and assault van. Photo: Homoatrox - Own work, CC European Parliament president David Sassoli (centre) presents the Sakharov prize to the activists from the Belarusian democratic opposition Veronika Tsepkalo "The Sakharov prize isn't only an achievement for these people – it's dedicated to every person in Belarus fighting for democracy"