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Nyaklyayew set to bring perpetrators of election day attack to justice

Former presidential candidate Uladzimir Nyaklyayew expressed determination on Monday to bring the perpetrators of an election day attack on him to justice.

The 64-year-old poet was beaten unconscious by men in black uniform half an hour before the closure of the polls on December 19 in an attack widely believed to have been masterminded by Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s secret services.

According to Mr. Nyaklyayew, after his arrest following the attack he inclined to believe that the incident had been orchestrated by the Committee for State Security (KGB). However, he said, KGB representatives have vehemently denied any involvement in conversations with him.

Mr. Nyaklyayew and his associates planned to announce the establishment of the Belarusian Popular Movement "For New Elections without Lukashenka" during a post-election protest in Kastrychnitskaya Square.

He said that the organization had planned to set up regional and district chapters so that the "people feel themselves not bit players but rather active participants of events, those who make history." According to Mr. Nyaklyayew, a resolution condemning the election as rigged and demanding a new vote was to be adopted during the protest and delivered to the prime minister.

The politician said that his team would have invited the protesters to turn out in the square again the following day. "Experience shows that twice as many people would have come the following day," he said.

The authorities were simply scared after seeing a big crowd gather in Kastrychnitskaya Square, Mr. Nyaklyayew said. "That's why they made a decision to scare off the people. This is mean, this is beyond the boundaries of politics or morals. This is proper to only one person in this country," he noted. //BelaPAN