Translated material
Wendetta in Belarusian
The Belarusian authorities moved to the new tactics of suppression of dissent. According to the opposition and human rights activists, those who are in prison for political reasons began to use torture. The regime, which received a break thanks to Russian loans, was furious
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| Irina Khalip |
The first alarm was scored by the journalist of the Russian Novaya Gazeta, Irina Khalip, the wife of the ex-candidate for the president, the leader of the opposition civil campaign “European Belarus” Andrei Sannikov. The security forces, said Irina Khalip at a press conference in Minsk, tortured her spouse to get a signature from him under the petition of a pardon in the name of Alexander Lukashenko. Moreover, the physical impact was carried out in several stages. At first, they tried to set other prisoners to Sannikov - nothing came of this venture, among the sectors there were those who stood up for Sannrikov. After that, according to Halip, the administration itself took up the black work
* * According to the official data of the Belarusian CEC, in the presidential election in December 2010, Andrei Sannikov scored 8% of the vote (second place), 40% in unofficial, and together with Alexander Lukashenko was held on the second round. .
Answered for rubber?
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| Andrey Sannikov |
According to Irina Khalip, she talked with her husband through the glass, by phone: this meeting of the wife Sannikov, like his mother and lawyer, sought from August last year, but they were not allowed in violation of all the laws to the prisoner, during the communication the colony administration warned that he would interrupt the conversation and no longer allow any meetings if the spouses would discuss “undesirable things”. But at the end of the meeting, Andrei Sannikov still managed to attach a note to the glass, where it was written: "At any moment they can kill me." The jailers threatened Sannikov that if he did not sign the necessary papers, they would kill his wife and four -year -old son Daniel. Then Sannikov signed everything that was required. But even after that, says Irina Khalip, torture regarding her spouse did not stop. And the point here is not in politics, Irina Khalip is convinced: “This is personal revenge, a kind of vendetta“ For bald tires ”
* The election campaign of Andrei Sannikov was successful in large part due to the slogan “change the bald tires” (hint of Alexander Lukashenko). Life-Brings of Wendetta in Belarusian, unlike the Corsican version, has a feature: Alexander Lukashenko does not take revenge on himself, but by the forces of his henchmen. The whole practice of the last 18 years shows: the life of the opponents of the president of Belarus is not a broken penny. In the country, everyone remembers the story with the deputy of the Belarusian parliament, Gennady Karpenko, who died in April 1999 under mysterious circumstances-after a focus with a journalist from the official publication. The former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuri Zakharenko and Chairman of the Central Election Commission Viktor Gonchar are not forgotten - both in the same year were abducted by unknown and went missing. The loved ones of all three publicly accused Alexander Lukashenko in personally. And to forgetful citizens, the memory was refreshed by last year’s tragedy with the founder of the Oleg Bebenin Oleg Babenin’s opposition site, who was supposed to head the election headquarters of Andrei Sannikov: in September 2010, Bebenin was found hanged in their cottage.
The Belarusian president himself introduced some clarity to the situation at the end of last year. Answering the questions of journalists who tried to find out the whereabouts of another presidential candidate Vladimir Neklyaev, Alexander Lukashenko was indignant: “Do you think that we stole him and took him off somewhere? No, there will be no more such Podarunkov (in Belarusian-gifts). ”
Suppose Andrei Sannikov really signed a petition for pardon: what's next? The Belarusian authorities do not give an answer to this question. At first, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the pardon commission for the president vied with the “shaved” of journalists: they say, they do not have information about such a petition. Then the commission said that "the paper from Sannikov was lost somewhere." And only on January 26 the officials came to their senses: the VITBA-3 colony administration stated that on January 23 she sent Andrei Sannikov’s request with the necessary documents to the department for citizenship and pardon of the presidential administration. And the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs specified in a conversation with the Belarusian news agency Belapan that the Sannikov allegedly filed a petition for pardon not on November 20, but on December 23 last year. The fact is that, according to the Belarusian legislation, the authorities are obliged to respond to a petition for pardon within a month. It is for this reason that Irina Khalip believes, the authorities indicated the date on December 23, which was taken "from the ceiling."
The embargo for the sadist according to the head of the Belarusian legal assistance to the population of Oleg Volchek, the Belarusian authorities still refrained from physical impact measures against the arrested opposition leaders, and did not limit in communication with relatives. Oleg Volchek associates the change of tactics with the “panic fear of Alexander Lukashenko in front of strong rivals”: in 1999, the human rights activist recalls, it was Karpenko, Zakharenko and Gonchar, now - Sannikov and another opposition leader - Nikolai Statkevich. The editor of the Belarusian weekly Belgazeta, Viktor Martinovich, agrees with this opinion: “The authorities will release candidates for presidents if they are sure that they will repeat the life experience of another ex-candidate-Alexander Kozulin, who, after their release, departed from an active policy.”
“The thing is that Mr. Lukashenko is a sadist, to torment his rivals gives him an incredible pleasure,” said the famous Belarusian film documentary Yuri Khashchevatsky in turn. Now the presidential inclinations, our interlocutor is convinced, aggravated, including because of Russian leaders. “After all, both Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev do not miss the opportunity to publicly humiliate Alexander Lukashenko.” The dad compensates for the resentment of his own opposition. The sense of impunity in Lukashenko is also stimulated by the “behavior of the European Union, which instead of specific and effective economic sanctions produces pairs of dissatisfaction with the help of some incomprehensible resolutions,” said Yuri Khashchevatsky. Only the active use of economic levers of pressure against Minsk will force the Belarusian authorities to behave more or less civilized, the expert is sure. What sanctions can we talk about? First of all, the embargo on the import of oil products from Belarus, Yuri Khashchevatsky believes. “For the European Union, Belarusian contracts cover only 1.5% of its needs. But for the Belarusian budget, this is almost 40 % of the income. Enter the European Union such an embargo - one day would have been enough for all Belarusian political prisoners to be released. ”
