William Burdon: Kulyashou’s dismissal is not cause for rejoicing

The lawyer, who filed an action against Belarusian Interior Minister Anatoly Kulyashou, does not think that his dismissal would add to improvement of the situation in Belarus.

In early 2012 a French lawyer William Bourdon on behalf of Belarusian citizens filed a collective action against Belarusian Interior Minister Anatoly Kulyashou in a French court. The minister was charged with organizing torture of the arrested after the presidential election in Belarus, RFI reminds.

Minister Kylyashou was in France at a conference of Interpol then, but he left before investigation agencies reacted to the suit of Bourdon.

“When a person, suspected of having liters of blood on his hands, who had participated in terrifying crackdown of the Belarusian authorities on oppositionists and democrats, quits, no one will have bitter regrets about that certainly. Is it connected with pressure constantly exerted by the European Union, or with the procedure started by us here in France, or with the actions of NGOs? It is probable. But if his substitute is just a clone or a twin of his chief, all that is just a charade, a theatrical! We would like this dismissal to symbolize improvement of the situation, but we do not have proofs that at the moment, that this dismissal is good news,” said William Bourdon.

“The reshuffle does not show that the terrifying policy pursued by the Belarusian authorities towards their nation, is to be ended. It does not make us sure that it would become a sign of hope from Minsk, and there have been very few such signals this year, if you remember,” the lawyer noted.

Ihar Shunevich, who had been Anatoly Kulyashou’s deputy until recently, was appointed the new Interior Ministry.

Ihar Shunevich worked for the KGB of Belarus in 2007-2012. First he was the chief of the investigation department, and later the directorate for counter-intelligence and corruption and organized crime fight.