Belarus opposition challenger to address UN Security Council

main opposition challenger in Belarus' disputed presidential election, which has triggered mass protests, will dress an informal meeting of U.N. Security Council on Friday.

Estonia’s U.N. ambassor, Sven Jurgenson, said Tuesday that Sviatlana Tsikhauskaya, who fled to Lithuania under pressure from Belarus authorities, will speak to U.N.’s most powerful body at a meeting focusing on attacks on human rights in former Soviet nation.

Belarus’ opposition has called Aug. 9 election that gave Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term as president rigged. United States and European Union have criticized vote it as neir free r fair and urged Belarusian authorities to begin a dialogue with opposition.

Lukashenko, who has run nation of 9.5 million people with an iron fist for 26 years, has dismissed opposition protesters as Western puppets and is pursuing a tough response to demonstrators. Over weekend, he cracked down on independent media and his government has been jailing activists.

Jürgenson, whose country is serving a two-year term on Security Council, said expulsion of independent foreign media and revocation of accreditation for independent journalists in Belarus “confirms importance of sharing information about what is happening in Belarus.”

“For Estonia, standing up for human rights is also a priority in foreign policy, which is why we consider it important to provide an arena for those whose voices are being suppressed,” he said in a statement to Associated Press.

Jürgenson said Security Council has stated that severe human rights violations are an early warning of conflicts with international implications and that “repression could amount to threats to international peace and security.”

“Prevention of violent conflict and mass atrocities is council´s key responsibility, thus early warning and awareness raising are necessary,” he said.