English

Lukashenka: unsanctioned protests in downtown Minsk will be aborted

 

Unsanctioned demonstrations at the center of Minsk will be aborted, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said at a news conference in Minsk on June 17.

The Belarusian leader insisted that the recent protests against increased motor fuel prices had nothing to do with his decision to lower the prices. According to Mr. Lukashenka, he paid little attention to media reports about the protests until a few days after ordering the prices down.

On June 7, hundreds of motorists blocked traffic on Minsk's main thoroughfare, Independence Avenue, for two hours in protest against a new increase in motor fuel prices. Four people were arrested and fined.

"Yes, I read that someone somewhere blocked something, but somehow I didn't even pay attention to that, as there was much other more serious and important information," Mr. Lukashenka said. "When that was reported to me, I …asked the interior minister: 'What kind of event was that, considering that vehicles had to be diverted to other routes for several hours?' He began telling me. I told him: 'One more such event and you're stripped of your shoulder straps.' That was my whole response to that event."

Mr. Lukashenka stressed that he was not opposed to demonstrations in general, as long as they were staged in designated places. "However, if you're blocking Independence Avenue, a political avenue, and getting in the way of other people, the response should be tough," he said. "That is why I rebuked the interior minister for sluggishness and warned that such events should be aborted instantly."

All mass events are banned from taking place in Independence Square, Kastrychnitskaya Square and Victory Square unless they are organized by the government, Mr. Lukashenka said. "If they're banned, why are you defying the ban? If you want to express your views, I'll hear you in Bangalore [Square], near the National Library and in some other place."

Mr. Lukashenka ridiculed the "silent” protests staged across Belarus on June 15, describing a "typical" protester as a guy "of 16 or 17 with a cigarette in his teeth, and some girl, also a smoker, under his left arm like a log."

Unfortunately, some of the Belarusian youth are like that, he said. "There are 80, maybe 400 or maybe 500 of them, but these people don't understand," he said. "Just look at these calls: 'Come to the square and become a hero!' But who do these slogans target? People who, pardon me, are not on friendly terms with their brains and haven't seen anything of life or understand anything. This mass is assembled like in Egypt and other countries. And then, when there are tens of thousands of them, ringleaders will come and lead."

Mr. Lukashenka stressed that the government would interfere to keep the situation under control. "This is how a country begins to be shaken," he said. "And this paves the way for 'heroes' like those who committed the terrorist attack in the subway to emerge at the call, 'Be a Hero!'"

As for the border protests against the restrictions on the export of motor fuel and some goods by individuals, they did nothing but harm, Mr. Lukashenka said. "At present we're talking quietly, as people may have failed to hear something, are confused and so on," he said. "However, we’ll view new protests as an attack against not only the government but also the people." // BelaPAN