Stanislau Shushkevich: They Will Laugh At Lukashenka As They Laughed At Brezhnev

The Belarusians will unite and defeat this power.

Today, the solemn reburial of Kastus Kalinouski and his comrades-in-arms - participants of the national liberation uprising of 1863 - is taking place in Vilnius. The first head of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich takes part in the celebrations:

- It's a treason against his homeland not to come to the farewell with Kalinouski. And today's authorities in Belarus are so loyal to Russia that they have not come to the farewell with the national hero. One can draw parallels between our time and the era of Kalinouski. Then the viceroy from Russia ruled us, and now there is a kind of authority, but it is treacherous. This power is simply militant ignorance. But it is impossible to humiliate Kalinouski. Therefore, shame on this power of traitors.

I did not expect that there would be such a sea of Belarusian national flags here. It means that Belarus is alive and will live in spite of this power. Belarusians have survived in the worst conditions, and I am sure that the process will turn in the other direction, the Belarusians will unite and defeat this power. Lukashenka has been ruling for longer than Brezhnev. People will laugh at Lukashenka just as they laughed at Brezhnev, - Stanislau Shushkevich said.

Charter97.org reports from the reburial of Kalinouski and the rebels live.