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Andrei Sannikov: All Those Arrested In "Patriots' Case" Are Political Prisoners

Andrei Sannikov: All Those Arrested In "Patriots' Case" Are Political Prisoners
Andrei Sannikov

"The patriots’ case" is an ordered, political affair.

European Belarus civil campaign leader Andrei Sannikov said that in his interview to Charter97.org.

– How does "European Belarus" take the "patriots' case", with regard to which 17 people are in prisons today?

– There are 17 prisoners, but there are many more people in this case. European Belarus immediately announced all those arrested in the case to be political prisoners. We have stated this, and at the international level repeatedly as well. Just yesterday, I discussed this issue with First Deputy Chairman of the European Commission Franz Timmermans. We call on human rights defenders, as well as all political parties and movements, to make the same statements.

"The Patriots' Case" is an ordered, political case, which was hastily fabricated after Lukashenka's public order. It is dangerous not only for the accused, but also for the independence of Belarus. The regime needed it to please the Kremlin and get the usual support for the maintenance of the repressive apparatus for suppressing protests and arrests of activists.

– Why is it important to give a rights-based assessment of the political affairs in the shortest possible time?

– There can’t be an independent investigation or an independent trial under the dictatorial regime, which has existed for many years in Belarus. When it is obvious that the accusations have political nature, it’s unacceptably for human rights activists to wait for the results of the investigation or the trial to decide on the status of a political prisoner. It is important to give a principled assessment so that the international community can react to it. It's no secret that today some European politicians, who once again have failed in their attempts to "reform" Lukashenka, try to turn a blind eye to the renewed repressions. This serves for the regime as a signal for even more severe repressions and torture of political prisoners.

– On what grounds did you immediately call the "patriots' case" to be a political one?

– We had every reason to do that. On several occasions, the European Belarus leadership, especially me and Dzmitry Bandarenka, had been branded on the state television and in the main regime newspaper as the sponsors and organizers of the attempted coup d'etat by armed means. We officially declare that this is a blatant lie and that we are not even acquainted with any of those, who are currently in prison on false accusations. This alone serves as proof of the innocence of all those arrested in it and that the "case" has been ordered.

Having been accused in the previous high profile case for "plotting a coup" in 2010, we have personal knowledge of how they torture the arrested people, knocking out confessions, creating unbearable conditions for them, forcing them to cooperate.

We reiterate that all those arrested in the "patriots' case" are political prisoners. All the Belarusian citizens, who have been detained and are serving their sentences for protest rallies, are political prisoners as well.

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