July 3 – amnesty for political prisoners

Organizing large-scale repressions against own people, the authorities are bringing themselves into stalemate.

Grassroots riots burst out across Belarus, which suffers from economic crisis. Day by day, Belarusians are getting rid of fear that seemed to paralyzed them forever after December 19, when the regime brutally suppressed a demonstration against the fraudulent elections.

The country is changing. Belarusians surprise the whole world when, in spite of the scale of the December repressions and judicial reprisals aiganst opposition leaders and activists, they come to central squares of their cities protesting peacefully and in silent against dictatorship.

In spite of intimidations and thousands of riot policemen, thrown against peaceful citizens, the number of displeased people continues to grow and, which is the main thing, brutality of the authorities only makes them braver.

Protest movement will only gain momentum. 17 years of dictatorship, repressions and fear in today’s world is a huge term. Money to maintain average income for tolerant people and repressive machinery for dissidents is running out. The tolerant are turning into dissidents, dissidents are becoming rebels and radicals. People’s patience runs thin. The situation may suddenly change very fast, as it always was in Belarus.

Methods of last years do not work for Lukashenka today. Russia refuses to give money for empty promises demanding economic reforms and above all privatization of the biggest enterprises in exchange for loans. The West refuses to have vain dialogues imposing economic sanctions slowly but surely.

No one is going to buy freedom for political prisoners from Lukashenka, though he threw them into prisons for “rainy days”. Neither the US nor Europe intent to deal with the ruler who has been trading in political prisoners fir the last 17 years releasing them in exchange for certain dividends and loans, but then imprisoning them again and again.

Escalation is growing. All cassation appeals against verdicts to organizers and participants of the December 19 demonstration have been upheld. When plaintiffs apply to all Belarusian courts, they will have the right to apply to the United Nations. The UN institutions may oblige to pay material compensation to victims of repressions, which will give the way to a mass flow of appeals from victims of earlier repressions. As a result of mass appeals to the UN from Belarusian citizens, even stricter international sanctions may be imposed on the country.

A burst of economic problems followed by riots have driven top officials to a state close to hysterics. Perhaps, instead of announcing emergency state and turning the country into North Korea, they should to give a break to people and to themselves? Perhaps, they should solve economic problems instead of trying to spend the last money on pointless attempts to suppress all dissidents.

Belarus marks the 20th anniversary of its independence in 2011. One of the variants of ways out for the authorities would be amnesty for political prisoners. One can hardly believe in their prudence, but there’s always a hope that wisdom and logic can win even in our specific conditions. It’s time to change power, the wheel of repressions has begun reverse rotation eliminating those who set it in motion.