Poland grants visa to Belarus Olympian

Описание: (2 Aug 2021) Poland granted a visa Monday to a Belarusian Olympic sprinter who said she feared for her safety and that her team's officials tried to force her to fly home, where the autocratic government was accused of diverting a flight to arrest a dissident journalist.
An activist group that is helping athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya told The Associated Press that it bought her a plane ticket to Warsaw for the coming days.
The current standoff apparently began after Tsimanouskaya criticized how officials were managing her team — setting off a massive backlash in state-run media back home, where authorities relentlessly crack down on government critics.
The runner said on her Instagram account that she was put in the 4x400 relay even though she has never raced in the event.
The runner was then apparently hustled to the airport but refused to board a flight for Istanbul and instead approached police for help.
In a filmed message distributed on social media, she also asked the International Olympic Committee for assistance.
The rapid-fire series of events brought international political intrigue to an Olympics that have been more focused on operational dramas, like maintaining safety during a pandemic and navigating widespread Japanese opposition to holding the event at all.
Belarus' authoritarian government has relentlessly targeted anyone even mildly expressing dissent since a presidential election a year ago triggered a wave of unprecedented mass protests.
And it has also gone to extremes to stop its critics, including the recent plane diversion that European officials called an act of air piracy.
In this context, Tsimanouskaya feared for her safety once she saw the campaign against her in state media, according to the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, the activist group that is helping her.

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