The athlete who was supposed to be flown to Belarus against her will is safe. She spent the night in an airport hotel.
The Belarusian Olympic participant Kristina Timanovskaya can hope for asylum in the European Union after reports of an attempted forced return to her homeland. The athlete entered the Polish embassy in Tokyo in front of the cameras on Monday after the governments in Warsaw and Prague offered her visas. Her husband confirmed to the AFP news agency that she wanted to travel to Poland.
His country is ready to help Timanowskaya, the State Secretary in the Polish Foreign Ministry, Marcin Przydacz, tweeted earlier 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. The Belarusian embassy has meanwhile requested information about the athlete from the Japanese authorities, as reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti .
❗️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
Timanovskaya announced on Sunday that after a complaint about her coaches she had been taken to Tokyo Airport to be sent back to her home country against her will. However, she asked the Japanese police for protection.
Other countries also asked Timanovskaya for help and asylum. The Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote on Twitter on Monday: “Kristina is welcome in Slovenia”.
Krystsina is welcome in Slovenia. @Tsihanouskaya https://t.co/BDlPHnDzrw
– Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) August 1, 2021
France's European Minister Clément Beaune had spoken out in favor of political asylum for the 24-year-old in the EU. “That would be an honor for Europe,” he told RFI. And the foreign policy spokeswoman for the Austrian Greens, Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, called on Twitter: “Austria can and should help, quickly.” She called on the Austrian Foreign Ministry to investigate immediately how Austria could grant refuge in this case. “Bureaucratic hurdles must not stand in the way,” she emphasized in a broadcast on Monday.
Earlier, there had been reports from an opposition group that Timanowskaya was 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 missed the 200m start on Monday and 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 Belarusian Olympic Committee (NOK). One must first wait for the exact background and details of the incident, it said. Adams could not provide any information about how the athlete left the Olympic village and who was with her.
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.
The Belarusian Olympic Committee 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.”
Belarus has been ruled by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, and he has cracked down on critics with a hard hand. The situation has worsened massively since the presidential election on August 9, 2020. The allegedly falsified election was not recognized internationally. The authorities took bloody action against peaceful protests. They responded with torture and imprisonment. Oppositionists, human rights activists and critical journalists are being persecuted. More than 600 names are on the list of political prisoners in Belarus.
