English

Lukashenka says Khalip and Sannikaw need to answer «three questions» to be freed, dismisses concerns about their small child

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has dismissed the concerns of many about the fate of the three-year-old small son of prominent journalist Iryna Khalip and her husband, former presidential candidate Andrey Sannikaw, who have been held in the KGB detention center since their arrest over the December 19 post-election demonstration.

“Everybody is whining and moaning that Lukashenka, who has his own baby, has moved to crack down on another, but Lukashenka is not such, he is not bloodthirsty,” the Belarusian leader said while speaking at a session of the House of Representatives, Belarus’ lower parliamentary house, on Thursday.

“No one had ever cared for the child before,” he said. “One stuck around in Moscow and the other in Washington, while the grandmother and grandfather cared for the child with a success. And they continue to do so now.”

Mr. Lukashenka said that Ms. Khalip and her husband would be released as soon as they answered “three questions.” “Just three questions should be followed by three sincere answers and you will be free to go to your children,” he said. //BelaPAN