Belarusian president and other officials are accused of crimes against humanity, including the mass forced deportations of refugees.
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00:00Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has praised Lithuania's decision
00:07to seek the prosecution of President Alexander Lukashenko and other senior officials at the
00:13International Criminal Court.
00:17Lithuania announced its ICC referral on Monday, accusing the Belarus officials of committing
00:23crimes against humanity through mass force deportation and the persecution of political
00:28opponents.
00:29We can't win this fight alone. We need allies. We need international institutions and organizations
00:34and governments as allies. Sometimes it looks like nothing is happening. But today's referral
00:41to ICC shows that all our efforts are succeeding. And it will be a huge boost on Belarusian
00:51civil society to continue its job.
00:54While Belarus is not a member state of the court, Lithuania argues its officials can
00:59be prosecuted since parts of the alleged crimes occurred in the Baltic nation, which
01:03is a member.
01:06Government critics in Belarus have faced a severe crackdown since nationwide protests
01:10erupted in 2020 after disputed election results gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office.