MINSK, 22 November (BelTA) – What happened after the presidential election in Belarus in 2020 was a brawl instigated by the West. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement in an interview with the BBC on 19 November, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that Western reporters constantly ask about people, who were hurt during protests, but never talk about injuries sustained by law enforcement personnel.
The president said: “You haven't shown how vehicles ran over our police officers in the streets. There were some from that side, too. It was a brawl. A brawl you, the West created in our country, it happened. I admit it. But you didn't see how a woman was shot point blank in America. Did you see that? I want you to answer why you saw those things in Belarus but failed to see other things in America and failed to provide an opinion? How about people being arrested in London metro? They were taken and beaten up during demonstrations over there. You didn't wear soft gloves over there. Because lawbreakers get what they deserve. You shouldn't have to reproach me for anything. Yes, law enforcement personnel cracked down on some people and law enforcement officers were hurt. What would happen if people attacked a policeman and started breaking his legs in the UK or America? The assaulters would be shot dead right away.”
The head of state pointed out that demonstrations in Belarus were not peaceful at all. Photos of the protesters sweeping up waste after themselves are only a cover-up. “Calm down about peaceful demonstrations. We know who received money and who financed these protests in Belarus,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated. “When we started showing how you broke and destroyed things in clean Minsk (our people are not accustomed to dirt), you gave them hints to tidy up for the sake of propaganda. We can show you how flowerpots were thrown, how streets were trashed, and the rest.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed he had to protect the country and the nation last year and made decisions bearing it in mind. “I did things the way our laws are written. You may not like it but I told you the way I understand, the way I think. And the way at least 87% of our people [Belarusians] think today. They saw your face, your democracy, freedom of speech, they tasted this freedom of speech [the migration crisis at the border was meant]. You were present there, too. Poor unarmed people were hosed with toxic chemicals,” the head of state reminded.
Aleksandr Lukashenko once again pointed out that if the West had not financed the protests in Belarus, such events would not have happened. “You financed the mutiny last year and controlled the mutiny from Poland's territory. You did with the backing of Americans. The leaders were financed by the West. Otherwise the West would not have sheltered them. All of them are over there. Why? They fled to where they had come from and from where they had been financed. All the people like Tikhanovskaya, Latushko, Tsepkalo are staying in your countries. They didn't run to China because they would not be welcomed there because they have no relation to them,” the Belarusian leader noted.
