The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
Photo: Maxim Gucek/Berta/AFP
- The President of Belarus condemned Western sanctions.
- The United States and Britain imposed new penalties on this former Soviet country.
- The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said “We will never kneel down.”
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko condemned Western sanctions on Monday because Washington and London imposed new penalties on his authoritarian regime, which tried to stifle all dissidents in the former Soviet country after a year of historic protests .
Since coming to power in 1994, the strongman with a mustache has been brutally suppressed since large-scale demonstrations broke out after the elections in August last year. Many observers claim that these demonstrations have been manipulated.
Western governments punish his regime with waves of sanctions. On Monday, Britain and the United States imposed new penalties on Belarus after a year of voting.
The British government stated that it would prevent Belarusian Airlines from flying over or landing in the UK and expanded a series of financial sanctions because of “continuous undermining of democracy and human rights violations.”
The White House stated that it will target Lukashenko’s main institutions and supporters, including the Belarusian National Olympic Committee headed by Lukashenko’s son, and accuse him of “an attack on the democratic aspirations and human rights of the Belarusian people.”
Read | Missing Belarusian dissident hanged in Ukrainian park
But the 66-year-old Belarusian leader vowed to resist international pressure, insisting that he won a “fully transparent” vote and stating that “we will never give in.”
“You will be suffocated by these British sanctions,” Lukashenko said at his annual press conference, which is a marathon that lasts for several hours.
“You risk starting a third world war,” he added.
“Is this what you are trying to push us and the Russians to do?”
Amnesty International said on Monday that since the outbreak of the protests, thousands of people in Belarus have been detained, forced into exile or lived in fear.
“What suppression?” Lukashenko asked. “Have I shot anyone? Have I killed anyone?”
He denied widespread reports of torture in Belarusian prisons. Local human rights organizations claim that there are more than 600 political prisoners in Belarus and have recorded torture testimonies.
He also stated that his country’s KGB has nothing to do with the death of 26-year-old Belarusian activist Vitaly Shishov, who was found hanging in a Kiev park last week.
After his death, Ukraine stated that it would strengthen the security of Belarusian political exiles on its territory.
“He is a small person to us. Without Shisov, we have enough people to deal with,” Lukashenko said, adding that his death has strained relations with Ukraine.
He then accused the runner Krystsina Tsimanouskaya-she claimed that the Belarusian team tried to forcibly take her home from the Tokyo Olympics and has since been seeking asylum in Poland-being “controlled” by Warsaw.
He denied that the Belarusian political leadership tried to force the athlete to board a plane to Minsk, claiming that there was “not a single” KGB agent at the Tokyo Olympics.
Lukashenko-claiming to have won more than 80% of the votes in 2020-accused the opposition of trying to stage a “coup” last year.
He told officials and reporters:
Some are preparing for fair and honest elections, while others are calling for a coup.
The opposition believes that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (Svetlana Tikhanovskaya) is the real winner.
Tikhanovskaya has been seeking support from the West and recently met with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Lukashenko, backed by Moscow, has been trying to describe the crisis as part of the tension between the West and Russia.
Tikhanovskaya now lives in neighboring Lithuania, and he plans to lead a rally in Vilnius to commemorate the anniversary.
EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell warned last month that EU member states are also enacting tougher sanctions, which may be approved at the EU ministerial meeting next month.
