John McCain: Pressure on Lukashenka should be increased

Former presidential candidate, US Senator John McCain made a critical statement on the situation in Belarus.

John McCain said on 2 May in the Vilnius University, that violations of the Constitution and persecution of political opponents by the Belarusian government don’t cease, opposition leaders are thrown to prison, elections are falsified. Belarus is still far from democracy and remains Europe’s last dictatorship, he pointed out.

“The United States remains committed to standing up and speaking up for the people of Belarus until they win their freedom

Lukashenko is under more pressure than ever, especially following the latest E.U. sanctions. We see the effects of this growing pressure in the recent release of Andrei Sannikov and Dmitry Bondarenko after two years of political imprisonment. We are pleased that these champions of democracy are free, and we will not rest until the same is true for all of the political prisoners who still languish in Lukashenko’s jails. We know their names. We know their stories. We know of their innocence. And we will never forget them.”

According to McCain, reducing the pressure on Lukashenka will not help free the political prisoners. On the contrary, the Senator said that the pressure should be increased:

“The United States and the E.U. must continue to strengthen our common front in pressuring Lukashenko to release political prisoners and hold free and fair elections.

The best way to maximize this unified external pressure is with unified internal pressure, especially from a united political opposition in Belarus. While we have little hope that the upcoming parliamentary election will be credible, it is nonetheless an important opportunity for the opposition in Belarus to speak with one voice, to highlight the flaws of the system, and to demand a real transition to democracy,” the Senator said.

After the lecture, John McCain met with editor of charter97.org Natallia Radzina. On behalf of the leaders of the civic campaign European Belarus Andrei Sannikov and Dzmitry Bandarenka who had recently been released, the journalist thanked Senator McCain for his struggle for liberation of the Belarusian political prisoners.

Moreover, Natallia Radzina told the Senator about the increased pressure on the Belarusian political prisoners. She pointed out that the Belarusian powers must be urged to immediately release all prisoners of consciousness. “Today Lukashenka is trying to win time. If the political prisoners are not released in the near future, more sanctions should be introduced. And the powers must be urged to start system changes, otherwise the number of political prisoners will continue growing, just like during Lukashenka’s entire rule. The USA should understand that the situation in Belarus, ruled by a tyrant for almost 20 years, is as grave as in Libya and Syria,” the journalist said.