Zmitser Bandarenka: “So far as Russia supports Belarusian regime, chances for changes are slim”

One of the leaders of Belarusian opposition Zmitser Bandarenka, who had been recently released from prison, has given an interview to a Ukrainian magazine “Korrespondent.”

In the interview to “Korrespondent” Zmitser Bandarenka told about his life in prison, peculiarities of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime and prospects of Belarus’ development.

Bandarenka had been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on charges related to violation of the public order and instigation to unrest on December 19, 2010 during the mass protest rally against rigged presidential election results.

On April 15 he was released from Mahilyou penal colony Nr 1. Bandarenka’s associate, Andrei Sannikov, who had become the key challenger of Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the election of 2010, was released a day earlier.

In February Bandarenka was forced to write a petition for pardon to the Belarusian leader, as he had developed serious health problems in the penal colony. The oppositionist underwent a spinal surgery and needed further treatment.

Both international analysts and Belarusian oppositionists are convinced: the unexpected release of the two prominent political prisoners has become a result of the political pressure by the European Union, which, demanding to release the political prisoners, imposed new sanctions against Minsk, and recalled its ambassadors.

After the release Lukashenka warned the oppositionists that they should not “rattle their tongues”, otherwise they would be returned into prison again. However Bandarenka is set to continue his activities.

To the question of “Korrespondent” about the incarceration conditions, the oppositionist answered that in actual fact, Soviet camps are left in Belarus, though there are certain changes related to the advances of civilization, for instance, TV-sets.

“But by its aesthetics it is the old Soviet system. People are dressed in quilted jackets, ear-flapped fur hats, in uncomfortable shoes. Food at my colony was better than in other places. But undoubtedly there are no vitamins in food, almost no fruits or vegetables, part of the people are simply half-hungry,” Bandarenka told.

Commenting on his own phrase that Belarus is covered by the network of prisons, prison camps and penal colonies, the oppositionist noted: “According to the official data: there are twice as many prisoners per 100,000 of population in Belarus, then in Kazakhstan or Ukraine, and several times, sometimes dozen times more than in the EU countries. We have 22 penal colonies, dozens of prisons and a so-called “chemistry” [a compulsory labour facility], and there are free settlements. If all of them [penal institutions] are mapped, it is a thick network really. And at the same time, it is dozens thousands of imprisoned people and those who are guarding them. It is a camp in the centre of Europe.”

Bandarenka has told that he takes Lukashenka’s threats more than seriously. “I really understand that at any time we can be put behind the bars again, and there was an experience that some pardoned prisoners were returned to prison again. Besides, I do not exclude that I can die of a heart attack or a stroke “all of a sudden”, or get run over by a car “accidentally.”

According to the oppositionist, a political regime which has been established in Belarus, is typical of Latin American countries, where 15-20% of property is private, and the ruling clan uses 80% of property and resources. “In this respect, we have a classic Latin American dictatorship.”

Commenting on the domestic situation in Belarus, Bandarenka quoted Natan Sharansky, a prominent Israeli politician, who wrote: “A little dictatorship exists as long as there is a support from a big dictatorship.” “Thus, as long as Russia supports the Belarusian regime, the chances for reforms are slim,” said the coordinator of the oppositional movement “European Belarus.”

The full version of the interview of the recently released leader of the Belarusian opposition is published in “Korrespondent” Nr 16, April 27, 2012.