KGB must be recognized criminal organization

Europe must stop repeating mantras and invocations, sanctions should be imposed against the dictatorship.

In view of unprecedented pressure on the political prisoner and presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, former political prisoners and Andrei Sannikov’s election staffers held a press-conference in Warsaw. Uladzimir Kobets, Sannikov’s campaign chief, the spokesperson of the presidential candidate Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, the editor-in-chief of charter97.org Natallya Radzina and the first leader of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich have taken part in the event.

“For a few months we did not know what had been happening to Andrei Sannikov. And finally he was able to tell at the meeting with his wife how he is being victimized. This information gives a shock and makes us fear for his life. Andrei was subjected to torture, special services threatened to kill his wife and son. By unprecedented pressure a petition for clemency was forced out of him. It is unknown what had been happening for these three months, he is still kept in isolation and cannot tell about how he was bullied. Why Sannikov was not shown to anyone for three months? Perhaps because signs of tortures were to be concealed. The Belarusian KGB is a modern Gestapo. It is a criminal organization. Each of us who were kept in the KGB prison experienced that first-hand,” Uladzimir Kobets said.

Alyaksandr Atroshchankau told about his own experience: how a Belarusian prison, escorting, tortures and threats look like.

“It would be hard to imagine for you the pressure the political prisoners undergo. Andrei Sannikov was interrogated by the chairman of the KGB, who threatened with a murder of his wife and son. But Sannikov did not sign any papers. What was happening to him after September 2011 is horrifying. In September he was transferred from Navapolatsk colony first into Vitsebsk prison, then into Mahilyou prison, then to Babrujsk penal colony, then back to Mahilyou prison, and finally to Vitsba-3 colony. What is convoying? I can tell you. Being convoyed means to stand for hours in freezing temperatures surrounded by people with guns and dogs who could be set on you any minute. Guards are ready to shoot at sight if you do something which displeases them. Then you are ordered to run to the source of light. And you are running to this light, which is blinding, stumbling, falling and losing those scarce things you have taken to prison… then you travel in a carriage filled with people. You are not even standing; you are hanging, closely encircled by people, some of whom suffer from TB. It is more horrifying than I am telling you. I was lucky, my sending to another prison lasted one day. And Andrei was transported for weeks around Belarus which is a relatively small country…” Alyaksandr Atroshchankau said.

The editor-in-chief of charter97.org Natallya Radzina noted that she was not surprised at all by the methods used by the KGB against Andrei Sannikov.

“The situation is symptomatic. It is an example how mean and inhuman the regime in Belarus is. I was also threatened by an imprisonment for 5 years, and that I would not be able to have children after release. But the meanest thing is different. Political prisoners experienced such pressure in Soviet times as well. It is easier for a noble and honest man to die himself, but it is unbearable to imagine that his loved ones – mother, wife, children, would be harmed. I urge journalists to realize that the main thing is how Sannikov was tortured so that he signed a paper that does not mean anything. It should be realized and we should shout for the whole wide world to hear that political prisoners are being killed in prisons. I was shocked by the recent words of a political prisoner Zmitser Bandarenka. He said that he feels as a participant of a reality show “Behind the Glass”. That’s what is happening. Political prisoners are undergoing humiliating and cruel treatment, their lives are at risk, and we and the other world is observing that without a word. Do not believe politicians who say that the strategy of sanctions against Belarus “had not worked.” There had not been any Europe’s real sanctions against the Belarusian dictatorship so far. Though there is real economic leverage, like embargo on oil products deliveries, which can sober the dictator and make him release the political prisoners. Let’s save the political prisoners, while they are still alive,” Natallya Radzina said,

The first leader of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich stated that he supports the speeches of the press-conference participants. He stated that “Lukashenka is a sadist thirsting after blood.” As said by him, only decisive actions can stop him, and not “mantras” repeated by European politicians for almost 18 years.