MINSK, 12 October (BelTA) – Belarusian police officers and personnel of the Internal Affairs Ministry's internal troops will not leave the streets and will use special gear and lethal weapons if necessary, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Internal Affairs Minister, Chief of Criminal Police Gennady Kazakevich. His video address was published in the Telegram channel of the Internal Affairs Ministry's official spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova.
According to Gennady Kazakevich, the Internal Affairs Ministry is in charge of ensuring public order and public safety in the country. He noted that the number of people taking part in street protests and the area where the protests happen are gradually decreasing. However, protests are now concentrated primarily in Minsk and have become organized and extremely radicalized. Gennady Kazakevich referred to events that took place in Minsk last weekend as an example. In his words, protesters used stones, bottles, knives, and shivs against police personnel in the afternoon and built barricades and set automobile tires on fire in the evening. “Such events have nothing to do with civic protests. We face not simple aggression, but groups of militants, radicals, anarchists, rowdy football fans, attempts to recreate events of early August,” the official noted.
The official stated that attempts are being made in order to plunge the country into chaos of the 1990s, to make Belarus walk the sorrowful path of the countries that have gone through color revolutions. “On behalf of the Internal Affairs Ministry I state: we will not go away from streets and will ensure order in the country. Police personnel and personnel of the internal troops will use special gear and lethal weapons if necessary,” he clarified.
