Iryna Khalip: Western politicians must stop splitting hairs

The wife of presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov commented on the dismissal of her husband’s cassation appeal by the Minsk City Court.

“I am even happy that hearing of the cassation appeal had this result, because now the Western politicians, who have still had illusions in the current situation and continued hairsplitting, I mean looking for positive signals in Lukashenka’s public statements, may stop worrying. There have not been and will not be any positive signals. It’s not point in expecting common sense from the regime.

No more need to hear the speeches of the “leader”. This is thankless and senseless. No more need to secretly shake hands with Makei under the table. No more hopes for the great release of political prisoners any minute. What is needed is pressure, pressure, and again pressure. The experience of Alyaksandr Kazulin showed that this is the only variant. I do not doubt that pressure on the regime inside the Belarusian society will only grow.

My husband told me at the first meeting that in January, when he was in the KGB jail, he was asked to forecast economic development after December 19. Andrei said: add 100 rubles to the ruble exchange rate against dollar for every day of may imprisonment. Well, this was achieved. What my husband said has come true.

One must be a complete idiot to ruin Belarus’s economy in his own hands only due to the hatred to his political opponents,” Iryna Khalip told in an interview to charter97.org.

Presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov was sentenced to five years in a minimum security penal colony for a protest demonstration against the fraudulent presidential election.