MINSK, 10 September (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko named the reasons behind his decisions to pardon a number of people, called ‘political prisoners’ by opposition, as he spoke at a government meeting held on 10 September to to discuss topical domestic political issues and preparations for political campaigns, BelTA has learned.
“We see that the main thing for those staying abroad is to get grants, money. They do not care about anything else. Let us take so-called political prisoners. We have repeated many times that there are no politically-motivated cases and we have convicted no one on political charges, because we simply have nothing of the kind in our laws. They keep insisting that those are ‘political prisoners’. Okay. Why don’t you try to free these 'political prisoners' then?” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he had recently made decisions to pardon several dozens of so-called political prisoners twice. The decisions were made public. “They [opponents] should have been glad at least. They should have expressed some gratitude at least. No, nothing of the kind. They are busy with proving to themselves and their handlers abroad that they have made a huge contribution and ‘forced the dictator’ to make such decisions,” the president said. “first of all, no one can force me to do anything. It is impossible. I often say to journalists and everybody else that I have never made decisions on somebody's orders or under pressure.”
As for the pardoning of certain persons, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that those were his personal decisions, and there were various reasons to make them. “Some of them got sick, some of them could not go for walks any longer there, unlike when they could march briskly along the streets back then. Anything can happen in life. Some of them are no longer a danger at all. Some of them realized that they behaved strangely then [in 2020], going out, trying to make destruction in the streets of Minsk. We saw such people. Why keep them there, feed them at the state expense? We let them go. They are under total control of our law enforcers here,” the Belarusian leader said.
In his words, instead of thanking, opponents, on the contrary, are not happy about such developments. “They are not happy that these people have been released. Why are they not happy? Because the USA and others ask them about their contribution to the matter. They did nothing. They will get no money for this. Journalists were right by saying that the more people are in prison here, the better it is for them. We should tell them about it openly,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“We see that the main thing for those staying abroad is to get grants, money. They do not care about anything else. Let us take so-called political prisoners. We have repeated many times that there are no politically-motivated cases and we have convicted no one on political charges, because we simply have nothing of the kind in our laws. They keep insisting that those are ‘political prisoners’. Okay. Why don’t you try to free these 'political prisoners' then?” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he had recently made decisions to pardon several dozens of so-called political prisoners twice. The decisions were made public. “They [opponents] should have been glad at least. They should have expressed some gratitude at least. No, nothing of the kind. They are busy with proving to themselves and their handlers abroad that they have made a huge contribution and ‘forced the dictator’ to make such decisions,” the president said. “first of all, no one can force me to do anything. It is impossible. I often say to journalists and everybody else that I have never made decisions on somebody's orders or under pressure.”
As for the pardoning of certain persons, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that those were his personal decisions, and there were various reasons to make them. “Some of them got sick, some of them could not go for walks any longer there, unlike when they could march briskly along the streets back then. Anything can happen in life. Some of them are no longer a danger at all. Some of them realized that they behaved strangely then [in 2020], going out, trying to make destruction in the streets of Minsk. We saw such people. Why keep them there, feed them at the state expense? We let them go. They are under total control of our law enforcers here,” the Belarusian leader said.
In his words, instead of thanking, opponents, on the contrary, are not happy about such developments. “They are not happy that these people have been released. Why are they not happy? Because the USA and others ask them about their contribution to the matter. They did nothing. They will get no money for this. Journalists were right by saying that the more people are in prison here, the better it is for them. We should tell them about it openly,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
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