MINSK, 9 August (BelTA) – Last year's mass actions in Belarus were not peaceful and had been planned beforehand, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the Big Conversation with the President, a meeting with the public, experts and media community in the format of a big press conference in Minsk on 9 August, BelTA has learned.
“What kind of peaceful actions were they, if there were explosions, firecrackers, etc? It was easy to see where they flew from. Are you going to say that it was response to ‘violence'? No, they brought them there. It was before the ‘violence' began, before clashes. They brought shivs, knives, explosives. Why did they bring them, for peaceful actions? Therefore, it was anything but peaceful actions,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that Belarus responded to it in a much more moderate way than, for example, the United States did to similar events. “How many people were thrown in jail after the Washington incident, a coup attempt? Will you tell us how many investigations were opened and how many people are in prison? You don't know. In Belarus, any journalist will tell you: at least half a thousand are now in prison, they are behind bars according to the law. You cannot break into the U.S. Parliament. They did it, they got it,” he said. “What do you want to punish us for? For defending ourselves without shooting in the head of women? As for peaceful protests, we saw how peaceful they were. We will show you the footage how they attacked the riot police and others. In two days, police officers suffered 11 serious injuries. We saw this. Watch this footage online. Tell me, did we unleash this massacre? Did I need a war? Quite the opposite, I was interested in peace and calm,” the president said.
The head of state noted that the unauthorized protests were sponsored by the West. “You started this carnage, the advocates of those who fled from violence. You attempted a coup d'etat before the election results were announced. You came with weapons and with support from abroad. This is a terrible crime under the constitution of any country. For the first three days our law enforcement tried to bring back order on the streets by peaceful means only, but when I saw violence against the law enforcement, I gave a command not to look for the culprits but to put everyone in their place without shooting. If you had broken into the Palace of Independence when I came out with a rifle accompanied by my child, if you had crossed that line, no one would have stopped us. We would have been defending our country from you then,” the president stressed. “Legitimacy is the result of the election. That is why my legitimacy should be linked to the results of the election, not to post-election violence. This question is not new. You are asking how I am assessed in Belarus and abroad? You are in Belarus now, nobody closes the door in front of you, go outside and ask. How am I assessed abroad? They do not let me go abroad, I do not make any statements there. You are afraid that I may come to Germany, Poland, the United States and say something. You try to ignore everything I say in the media.”
