Lukashenka refuses to release Sannikov and Statkevich

(updated) Today the Belarusian dictator gave a press-conference to Russian mass media. He also touched on the topic of political prisoners.

The dictator stated that it is prospectless to lay dawn any conditions to him demanding to release political prisoners.

“They decided to lay down conditions… Leave us in peace, we do not create problems for you. What political prisoners do you mean? They have been imprisoned on certain charges,” the dictator said.

He told representatives of the Russian mass media that “just last week” an attempt was made to hand over a new portion of conditions through a person well received in the presidential administration of Belarus.

“Last week they invited a person who is allegedly in with me, and asked to communicate that ‘your president would be guaranteed anything by the American side… and they will provide for the old age like for the Ukrainian president,” A. Lukashenka said, noting that that person did not agree to talk about that at all.

Speaking about the political prisoners, the leader of the state asked a rhetorical question: “Would Russia and the US act in a different way, in case the White House or the Kremlin was stormed by scoundrels?” As said by him, actions of Belarusian law-enforcing agencies were more respectful as compared to their colleagues’ actions in other countries. “We did not even watered them (participants of the events of December 19, 2010 in Minsk),” Lukashenka stated.

“And I am not even speaking about Libya and Iraq now. Now they are pressurizing Syria. What for? They need oil, sweet oil, they need wealth,” A. Lukashenka concluded.

Lukashenka expects from the presidential candidates Andrei Sannikov and Mikalai Statkevich, convicted for the events of December 19 and serving the sentences, petitions for pardon.

“2 or 3 persons are left there (in prisons). But they do not want to be released. They want to be heroes. When they would like to be released, they would be released, we shall consider their petitions,” he said.

The dictator has reminded that he signed an act of oblivion of the presidential candidate Dzmitry Uss, who had been also accused for the events of December 19. “One of them (D. Uss) has written a petition that he is psychologically exhausted. Well, he was placed to a hospital, he was examined. He suffers from schizophrenia, he was registered as a disabled person of second degree,” he said.

Lukashenka underlined that those opposition representatives who had been convicted in “the December 19 case” and are continuing to serve the sentence, “are not needed to the West, or to anyone at all.” “They are not opposition representatives, they are bandits,” he said.

The dictator has added that there are no political prisoners in Belarus. “There are no political prisoners in our country, we have articles in the Criminal Code,” he said.

As said by him, Belarus would not cooperate with the European Union to the detriment of its relations with Russia. “Do not expect me to cooperate with the West to the detriment of Russia. We want to be a reliable connecting link. But we have found ourselves in this pincers, and we should be good for the both sides,” he said.

The dictator stated that he would never become an insider for the West.

“I am an outsider for them ideologically, I will never become close to them. Never,” A. Lukashenka noted.

“They do not care that Lukashenka is not corrupted, big deal. They all are swindlers there, all of them are corrupted,” the Belarusian leader said.

He underlined that the presidential election had been held in line with the wishes of the West. “We have registered all [the candidates], I gave 600,000 my signatures to them, for the Central Election Commission to register them all. All were registered under my iron pressure,” the dictator stated.

Besides, as said by him, all the candidates were offered a time on air on the TV. “Look at these speeches: “to the square, let’s storm, let’s break, let’s destroy!” What for they were doing that? As they knew they would lose. And they needed to work off money, as the West had said that they would give money only for assaults, disorder, blasts and so on,” A. Lukashenka said. As said by him, “Russian special services knew what for they had given money.”

A. Lukashenka has also stated that at his direction all observers, politicians, journalists, including those who had been banned entry previously, were allowed to enter the country. “All the enemies arrived to Belarus, they had been always fighting and hating Belarus,” the Belarusian ruler noted.

“We have held the election in this way. And it was bad all the same. Yet, some Russians helped to pressurize us from all directions. But we have withstood that,” A. Lukashenka stated.