Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday criticized the lack of forcefulness and firmness on the part of prosecutors when dealing with opposition leaders and the organizers of the protests that have been taking place in the country for a month following his re-election for a sixth term.
The president has taken advantage of the presentation of the new attorney general, Andrei Shved, to launch the message. Lukashenko has acknowledged that the situation has deteriorated in the country but, in his opinion, “the prosecutors have not been up to the occasion.”
“They should focus on preserving the country, its independence and security,” he said, stressing that Belarus should “return this year to the safe period it had recently and that is characteristic of our country” since its “image” is at stake.
For this reason, according to the state agency BelTA, it has defended that prosecutors “should not only evaluate the legal status of the organizers and mobilizers,” as they have done with the Coordination Council created by the opposition, but also “should respond more powerful and dramatic way to such actions. “
In addition, the president has made it clear that he has no intention of leaving office, as requested by the opposition, which rejects his re-election for a sixth term in the August 9 elections, which he considers fraudulent. “They often say ‘He will not give in’. They are right. People chose me and do not expect me to give in,” he defended. Lukashenko has indicated that “sooner or later” his power “will be assumed by others, but it will be in accordance with the law, not under pressure from the streets.”
“I am not asking you to break the law,” he told prosecutors. “We have legislation and regulations to save the country from this invasion so that the situation in Ukraine, Libya, Syria and others does not repeat itself, and to stabilize the country,” he stressed. “Act according to the law and remember that you, like the president, are citizens of the country,” he added.
