Oslo, Jan 29 (UNI/Sputnik) Two Norwegian lawmakers Olaug Bollestad and Harek Elvenes have nominated former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, her senior adviser Franak Viacorka said. Tikhanovskaya was also nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize but did not win it. “Norwegian Parliamentarians @OBollestad (leader of Christian Democratic Party @krfnorge) and @HarekElvenes (Conservative Party @Hoyre) nominated Sviatlana @Tsihanouskaya for the Nobel Peace Prize 2022. It is a recognition for all Belarusians who continue fighting for freedom,” Viacorka wrote on his Twitter page on late Friday. Belarus has been in a prolonged political crisis since incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko secured his sixth term in office in the August 2020 election. The opposition has not recognized the results, claiming that Tikhanovskaya was the real winner. The dispute resulted in mass protests across the country, which declined by February 2021. Minsk has opened criminal cases against several opposition leaders and others on charges linked to anti-government rallies. Tikhanovskaya was included in the list of people involved in terrorist activities. She fled to Lithuania. Minsk is seeking her extradition, but Vilnius refuses to do that. Tikhanovskaya runs an office in Lithuania and has initiated the creation of the opposition’s Coordination Council in Belarus.
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