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Lukashenka: Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volya asked for closure

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has lashed out at the private pro-opposition newspapers Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volya that are facing closure, saying that they “asked for it.”

Speaking at a news conference in Minsk on Friday, Mr. Lukashenka accused Narodnaya Volya of deliberately provoking the authorities into “responding in accordance with the law.” It wants the outraged West to raise hue and cry, he said.

The Belarusian leader said that he does "not read much” the two newspapers. “But there are stories to which I always pay attention,” he noted. “You know, I always respond to criticism, especially when it is about corruption or when they run people’s opinions [under the headline] ‘What people say’… I took once a clipping and asked for [the report] to be verified. And it turned out that the person did not exist.”

Mr. Lukashenka described Narodnaya Volya Editor-in-Chief Iosif Syaredzich as a bad man. “He plays into the hands of those who pay him and, sometimes, does the state more harm than good. But you live in this state, just like me. Why are you so against this state?”

Commenting on Nasha Niva, Mr. Lukashenka said that it was “some thug press.” “How dare you use people’s grief to pump up your popularity?” he said, referring apparently to the the newspaper`s false report that a young woman injured in the April 11 subway bombing in Minsnk was still under the rubble during his visit to the Kastrychnitskaya station.

“And after all, there is the law. Try at least not to violate this law,” he said. “If you violate the law, you should be held responsible. Perhaps, some damages will be claimed. Let’s them pay. But they should sort out things in court.” // BelaPAN