On May 9, when delivering a speech on the occasion of Victory Day in State Flag Square in Minsk, Alyaksandr Lukashenka called Belarusians to put an end to the confrontation that no one wants and warned about the alleged feasibility of Belarus’ becoming ‘an arena of someone else’s wars’ again.
“We’ve always lived in the calm and peaceful country of Belarus. It is only recently that attempts have been made to set Belarusians at odds with each other. Today I can say: we have sorted lies from the truth. Let’s stop this standoff no one needs. Let’s clearly agree that for the first time in millennia we happen to enjoy the happiness of living in this piece of land and of raising our kids. Let’s at last understand that there will be no other land for us and nobody will gift us one,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes him.
Lukashenka failed to specify who were playing the Belarusians off against one another and what was to be done to draw the ‘standoff’ to a close. In his opinion, a ‘cruel and bloody repartition of the world’ had started, and the politician expressed hope that Belarus would never get between those ‘millstones’. According to Lukashenka, the Belarusian people, including both seniors and kids, had often been’ stomped on and slaughtered’ many times. He urged the compatriots ‘not to allow a repeat of that’ in Belarus.
On 9 August, numerous protest rallies started throughout Belarus on the back of announcing the preliminary results of the 2020 presidential election; the major demands of Belarusians were Alyaksndr Lukashenka’s resignation; holding a free and fair election; releasing political prisoners; putting an end to police violence as well as bringing to justice those involved in battering and torturing peaceful demonstrators. There are several deaths that are linked to the post-election protests. As of 10 May, 370 persons have been recognised as political prisoners by the Belarusian human rights community. According to the Amnesty International organisation, the Belarusian authorities admitted receiving some 900 complaints of abuse by police in connection with the protests, but by the end of the year not a single criminal investigation had been opened, nor had any law enforcement officer been charged with respective violations.
