Lukashenka stomps and moos

The Belarusian dictator says he is ready to send all political prisoners to the EU in a prison carriage and calls Belarusians a “mooing mass”.

Speaking about political prisoners thrown in Belarusian jails after December 19, 2010, Alyaksandr Lukashenka noted:

“If the EU wants to take them, we will buy them [political prisoners] a ticket and send them. No problem – take them. If they [the EU] are so zealous supporters of political prisoners, we will pack them in a coach tomorrow. I will make a decision, as I have the right to make such decisions, and everyone, even those who were not imprisoned and moos on squares [people given suspended sentences – Interfax], everyone, whom they admire so much, will be loaded in a railway coach and sent to you,” Lukashenka told journalists Thursday during a working trip to Shklou (the Mahilou region), Interfax reports.

“I can give a plane, if they want this to be done quicker. We’ll send them in no time,” Lukashenka said.

“As for political prisoners and other questions. We do not have an article [in the Criminal Code – Interfax] on political prisoners. It is them who want to be called political prisoners,” Lukashenka said adding: “I didn’t know how many people were tried and imprisoned in connection with the riot.” “It turned out that 28 or 30 out of 600 people, who were involved in the case, have been sentenced. Some of them were given suspended sentences, some were imprisoned. But it is only in the cases with undeniable facts, which were recorded by western journalists too.”

According to him, “there is a penal colony here [in Shklou – Interfax]. This is a medium security colony, where decent people serve their terms. These good-for-nothings have nothing to do here. If they are placed here, they will be called to order. I am afraid to keep them here,” the dictator said.

Lukashenka emphasized he was not going to bargain with anyone. “These are human beings, whether they are bad or good. These are human beings and human destinies. We don’t need to bargain with the European Union and exchange these people for negotiations and talks,” he said.

The dictator also commented on a possible consultation with the Polish leadership on the situation with the imprisoned people. “I’d like to tell Mr Sikorski [Polish Foreign Minister – Interfax] that we already had consultation with him ahead of the presidential elections. Nevertheless, I do not turn down his proposals and consultations. He may have understood and recognized his guilt, the fact that we are not the ones to blame for the situation,” Lukashenka added. “It may be a signal, we will not turn down any signals. But we don’t need any consultations. We are smart people, not more stupid than the Polish leadership,” the dictator said.

He added he did not know what consultations were meant. “We can sow crops, harvest crops and build and we do it well. Perhaps they have something that we don’t know. Come here and tell, we will even pay to hear this,” Lukashenka said.

Lukashenka also touched upon protests in the country. He said participants of silent actions of solidarity in Belarus tried to use economic problems to destabilize situation in the country.

“This mangy mass of people on squares. They are stomping, mooing, and crying. They want to use the moment. They understand well that we will overcome this situation, this panic every day. We are doing it,” he said.

“You see, they have ‘black’ Wednesdays. They gather in 500 or 600 people and organize provocations to show a picture to the West. They receive money for this, it is not for free,” he said.

The dictator underlined that people “earn money on this filed or this mill, but not on squares”. “They called themselves the opposition. But are they really the opposition? They suggest choking Belarus economically. This is a new round,” Lukashenka noted. According to him, they [participants of actions – Interfax] are the enemies of the people, they are the fifth column”.