Lukashenka’s henchmen became international criminals

The Belarusian minister of internal affairs, Anatoly Kulyashou, ended his visit to the Interpol headquarters in French Lyon on January 20.

The visit was highlighted in the media after lawyer William Bourdon filed an action against minister Kulyashou in a French court on January 19. The lawyer thinks French police should arrest him immediately. Will Kulyashou be able to avoid arrest?

A representative of the Embassy of France in Minsk told Radio Svaboda the embassy cannot comment on actions by the French authorities regarding the lawsuit.

The diplomat said he knew from the lawsuit against Kulyashou from the media. In his view, the main thing is that France, where the Interpol headquarters is located, had to issue a visa to minister Kulyashou and had no right to hinder the visit of a representative of the organization. France had no other option but to fulfill its international obligations. The hype over Kulyashou’s visit was caused by lack of knowledge of the situation. The French diplomat compared the situation with the case when the US issued a visa to the president of Iran so he could visit the UN headquarters in New York. According to the diplomat, minister Kulyashou has a diplomatic passport. Kulyashou did not have any contacts with French officials.

Lawyer William Bourdon thinks investigators should define the degree of Anatoly Kulyashou’s involvement in the crackdown on opposition protests in December 2010 and torturing the arrested people. The lawsuit to the French court also touches Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The Belarus Free Theatre head and a founder of Free Belarus Now campaign, Mikalai Khalezin, explains:

“The lawyer acted on a signal of Free Belarus now campaign and its coordinator Iryna Sannikov, Andrei Sannikov’s sister, and in association with our lawyers McCue & Partners LLP. He was given a case on Lukashenka and his close associates. France had the right to arrest him on the grounds of the case. But they refused, because he had a diplomatic passport and arrived on invitation of the international organization. France said it had no relation to it, because the headquarters of the international organization is located in France. It failed this time, but it will work with someone else.”

The editor of charter97.org, Natallia Radzina, who lives in Lithuania now, noted a lawsuit against minister Kulyashou in a French court was the right step and unprecedented case.

“Kulyashou was not arrested this time, but the whole situation showed the Belarusian officials, Lukashenka’s henchmen involved in repressions are international criminals. The task is to find mechanisms to punish them for their acts. But it is the fact they will be afraid of travelling across the world and it is the fact they are international criminals.”