Ales Bialiatski: Maidan is possible both in Belarus and Russia

Lukashenka and Putin fear the Ukrainian events may repeat.

This statement was made by Ales Bialiatski, who was released on June 21, in an interview with the Russian TV channel Dozhd (Rain).

“I received Belarusian press, both independent and official, I watched Russian television and could make my own conclusions,” he says. “This [the events on Maidan] is possible both in Belarus and in Russia. I think the nervous reaction of the Russian leadership and much attention of the Belarusian authorities to the events in Ukraine in the last past months are caused by apprehensions that it may repeat in their countries.”

Ales Bialiatski was released from prison on Saturday morning. He spend 1050 days, or almost 3 years, behind the bars. On November 24, 2011, he was found guilty of tax evasion on a large scale and sentenced to 4.5 years in a medium security correctional facility and confiscation of property. Bialiatski faced criminal prosecution for having bank accounts in Lithuania and Poland. The court ignored the fact that he spent the money on human rights activities.