The athlete who was supposed to be flown to Belarus against her will is safe. She spent the night in an airport hotel.
After the alleged kidnapping attempt of the Belarusian runner Kristina Timanovskaya, more and more countries are offering help to the Olympic participant. According to information from Belarusians who are in contact with Timanowksja, the athlete, who the opposition believes should be abducted from Tokyo by the authoritarian Belarusian authorities at Olympia, has applied for asylum in Poland. Eyewitnesses reported that she entered the Polish embassy in Tokyo.
Poland had previously offered help. His country is ready to help Timanovskaya, tweeted the State Secretary in the Polish Foreign Ministry, Marcin Przydacz, on Sunday evening. There was talk of a humanitarian visa and the opportunity to continue a sporting career in Poland. The Czech Republic had also offered a visa. The Czech embassy in Tokyo announced on Monday that it was in a process of “intensive communication” with the Japanese authorities.
❗️Kristina Timanovskaya asks the International Olympic Committee for help
“I am asking the International Olympic Committee for help, pressure has been put on me and they are trying to take me out of the country without my consent, so I am asking the @iocmedia to intervene in this” pic.twitter.com/ W0TlSzI0Bh
– NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 1, 2021
Welcome to Slovenia too
The Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote on Twitter on Monday: “Kristina is welcome in Slovenia”. It would be “an honor for Europe” to grant Timanovskaya political asylum, stressed the French Foreign Minister Clement Beaune on Monday on the French foreign broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI). And the foreign policy spokeswoman for the Greens, Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, called on Twitter: “Austria can and should help quickly”.
Krystsina is welcome in Slovenia. @Tsihanouskaya https://t.co/BDlPHnDzrw
– Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) August 1, 2021
Earlier there were reports from an opposition group that Timanowskaya is trying to apply for asylum at the Austrian embassy in Tokyo. There was no confirmation of this for the time being. “The athlete has not yet contacted the Austrian embassy in Tokyo,” said a spokesman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry of the APA on Sunday afternoon. ÖOC President Karl Stoss said that Timanovskaya had been referred to the UN refugee agency.
No asylum application
According to the head of the Austrian Olympic Committee, Timanovskaya will be “helped and given the best possible advice”. There is currently no talk of asylum applications. Stoss confirmed that “ÖLV national coach Philipp Unfried worked with her in the run-up to the games. He is currently not in contact with Timanovskaya and is naturally not involved in the diplomatic negotiations. This also applies to the ÖOC. We are not involved in any way . ” Unfried writes the training plans for Timanovskaya.
Timanovskaya is “safe and secure,” according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The athlete spent the night in a hotel at Haneda Airport, said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. According to the IOC, a written report has been requested from the NOK in Belarus. One must first wait for the exact background and details of the incident, it said.
The 24-year-old athlete said in a video published by the opposition Belarusian athletes' association Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF) on Sunday that she had been flown out of Japan against her will after publicly criticizing Belarusian sports officials. The BSSF spoke of an attempted “violent” exit.
Adams could not provide any information about how the athlete left the Olympic village and who was with her. At the airport, she turned to the Japanese police. Representatives of the IOC and the Japanese OK had spoken to her “directly” that night. “She has assured us that she will feel safe and secure,” the IOC spokesman said.
They spoke to her again on Monday and will continue to do so together with the Japanese authorities “in order to determine the next step in the coming days”. They will continue to talk to Timanovskaya about what she is planning and will “support” her in her decision.
The Belarusian Olympic Committee (NOK) had previously stated on Telegram that the athlete had been examined by a doctor and would not take part in any further competitions because of her “emotional and psychological state”. Timanovskaya called this a “lie” on Instagram. She told the radio station Euroradio: “You just told me to pack my things and fly home.”
