English

Authorities will continue persecuting opponents, predicts leader of Belarusian Popular Front

The Belarusian authorities will not take any steps toward liberalization and will continue relying on the persecution of their political opponents, Alyaksey Yanukevich, leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, said at a meeting of the opposition party's Soym (Council) in Minsk on July 27.

He referred to the recent conviction of opposition youth Andrey Haydukow on a charge of attempting to commit a crime without signs of high treason. According to Mr. Yanukevich, any opposition activist may be charged under the Criminal Code article. "It has a very vague definition, which makes it possible for secret services to prove their necessity to Lukashenka. This is a repressive article that targets political opponents of the government," he said.

Mr. Yanukevich warned that Belarus might be on the brink of another devaluation of the national currency. "Some experts suggest that a devaluation is not just possible but is inevitable," he said.

Referring to a recent spate of corruption cases against high-ranking government officials, Mr. Yanukevich said that it testified to moral degradation in the government ranks and was also a sign of Alyaksandr Lukashenka's attempt to distract people from their every-day problems. //BelaPAN