Emanuelis Zingeris: Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk unacceptable

As said by the member of the Lithuanian Seimas, the Belarusian authorities have revived “a Communist dark age, having turned Belarusians into slaves.”

The head of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs Emanuelis Zingeris, who had been put on the list of politicians banned from entering Belarus by the Belarusian authorities of this country, is convinced that the Ice Hockey World Championship should not ne held in Belarus, as “it would be a tournament in honour of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.” As said by him, Belarusian authorities are trampling upon human rights and they “have restored a Communist Dark Ages, having turned Belarusians into slaves.”

A Belarusian politician Vital Rymasheuski in his turn believes that visa restrictions against Belarusian officials by the EU is an attempt to save face, but not a desire to impose effective sanctions. He urged Lithuanian politicians to pay special attention to the issue of respect to human rights and freedoms, ru.DELFI.lt informs.

“A person is imprisoned for a white-red-white flag, and he is at the point of death. I think Belarusians have a massive support among Lithuanian intellectuals, who see the actions of the current regime as subjugation of the Belarusian nation, which is similar to the events in Lithuania over 50 years of the Communist rule,” E. Zingeris said commenting on the beginning of the Belarusian Week in the Lithuanian capital.

As said by him, politicians and intellectuals in Lithuania see in the Belarusian reality signs of the past, of the Soviet regime, “the darkest times between Stalin and Brezhnev.” That is why E. Zingeris is convinced that the World Cup should not be held in Belarus, as it would be a support of the current Belarusian authorities which trample upon human rights.

“I think the Ice Hockey World Championship would be a tournament in honour of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, we cannot do so and demonstrate his five-year plan in three years, which is being staged by him over the past 16 years. It involves trampling upon human rights, restoration of the Communist Dark Ages and the pyramid of power, which has turned common Belarusians into slaves,” the politician underlined.

Commenting on the execution of Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavalyou, E. Zingeris notes that there had not been normal defense during the trial.

“I saw the mother of the convict (Uladzislau Kavalyou) at the Council of Europe, and a sense of guilt still lingers in me, as Europe has not been able to convince the modern Genghis Khan who spread terror in Belarus, that defense is needed, that investigation should be unbiased, and that death penalty in general should be abolished,” the politician said.

At the same time, E. Zingeris is convinced that “despite the militant propaganda of the authorities”, Belarusians discern the inner nature of the regime, which is one-of-a-kind in Europe.

“I think that the Belarusian nation deserves much better fate,” he concluded.

Over these years the Belarusian authorities have learnt to use oppositional political and non-governmental organizations as an instrument of their interests’ lobbying, believes the leader of the unregistered party Belarusian Christian Democracy, a presidential candidate Vital Rymasheuski. In this way he has commented on the actual ban for leaving the country for a number of oppositional politicians.

As said by him, those who are independent from the authorities are a hindrance for them, as there are different opinions on the issues of sanctions, visa restrictions, political prisoners, freedoms and human rights in Belarus, and inside the Belarusian opposition itself as well. “The scandal with the office of Volha Stuzhynskaya has shown that there are organizations which interests are directly coinciding with A. Lukashenka’s interests, and they would always be given the green light, and bans for going abroad are just an attempt to gag those who do not depend on the regime and do not work with it,” the politician believes.

We remind that a little more than a month ago the Office for Democratic Belarus in Brussels, headed by Volha Stuzhynskaya, urged to cut the list of Belarusian officials, banned from entering the EU, excluding from it university presidents, some journalists and those representatives of the regime who had lost their positions. It drew a wide response among Belarusian oppositionists and civil activists who charged V. Stuzhynskaya with contacts with the Belarusian authorities.