"This Is The Reaction Of Mentally Ill Person To Not Being Recognised By Anyone"

Andrei Sannikov commented on the sentences in the Tikhanovsky case.

In the interview with the Russian Voice of America, Andrei Sannikov, coordinator of the European Belarus civil campaign, presidential candidate in 2010, called the sentences by the court of Homel in the "case of Sergei Tikhanovski monstrous.

He added, "It proves that Lukashenka's psychosis is off the scale. He demands to punish all his opponents, and these are serious opponents - Sergei Tikhanovski, Nikolai Statkevich. These are the people who have called not for a compromise but resistance. Lukashenka is trying to stifle resistance with these verdicts, but he has failed".

Sannikov believes Lukashenka is not going to negotiate with Western democracies following the principle, "lift the sanctions and recognize me as the legitimate president of Belarus, then I'll pardon your "agents of influence". "This is not bargaining, but the reaction of a mentally ill person to the fact that no one recognizes him. That's why he is taking revenge on people who want the best for Belarus. Besides, he has lost all opportunities for bargaining," considers the interlocutor of the Voice of America.

When asked what pressure could be exerted by Western countries on Lukashenka's regime after the verdict in the Tikhanovski case, Andrei Sannikov noted that the sentences were passed not by judges, but as they were called in the Soviet times, by the "nodding officers", who always act under the instructions of "higher authorities".

"Not the police arrested them (Tikhanovski and others involved in the case - A.P.), it was the 'cops' who imprisoned them. That's why now we have to be very tough on all of them, expel them from all international organizations - legal, police, Interpol, Europol. To send out the Belarusian embassies, which do not represent any normal person in Belarus but only the punishers. One can do many things, it all depends on the political will, and I'm constantly talking about it. I think the Belarusians told the whole world: we want another life, and we did a lot to get rid of this criminal. By the way, not only Russia but also the West supported him," summed up the coordinator of European Belarus.

It should be recalled that on 14 December, the Homel regional court sentenced Sergei Tikhanovski to 18 years of imprisonment in a reinforced regime colony, Nikolai Statkevich to 14 years, Igor Losik to 15 years, Artem Sakov to 16 years, Vladimir Tsyganovich to 15 years and Dmitry Popov to 16 years.