Mikalai Statkevich: We, Patriots, Are the True Alternative to This Power

The leader of the Belarusian National Congress addressed his fellow citizens on the eve of his arrest.

On September 22 when leaving the Minsk office of the REP (Radio and Electronic Industry) Trade Union after a session of the Rada of the Belarusian National Congress one of its leaders Mikalai Statkevich was detained.

Before it the politician told palitviazni.info about protests in Belarus and the true alternative of the current power:

- Can spring protests occur this autumn?

- I will not guess but the duty of democratic forces is to deliver proposals to people, if they want to be people's leaders. It is needed to give them an opportunity to express their protest in public. Although in this case we take the brunt of the regime.

We must try. And when we try people begin to understand that we - patriots - are the only real alternative to power. Therefore, we will continue to do what we did before. So that people could know that we stand for them. And we are those who stand for independence, freedom, democracy, the Belarusian Belarus.

As far as I know, the negative rating of the authorities after the brutal actions of March 25 increased by 15%. This was not beneficial to the regime. The authorities suffered reputation losses in their relations with their new European "friends." But I repeat that the most important thing is the collapse in confidence of those 15 percent of Belarusians. People condemned that dispersal.

I am sure that our thirst for freedom wins. The authorities will either concede, or their brutal actions against the most prominent activists will increasingly drive themselves into a desperate crisis.