Lukashenka Increasingly Fears Of Sanctions
- 16.01.2023, 9:45
This is a painful topic for the regime.
UDF studied what Aliaksandr Lukashenka said about them over the past year, and what kind of repression those suspected of calling for restrictions face.
"It's all illegitimate," "They're starting to strangle us," "It's just a rotten act!"
So, let's highlight Lukashenka's demonstrative statements on Western sanctions in 2022.
January. Speaking about the possibility of war, Lukashenka threatened that those who would impose sanctions against Belarus and Russia "will regret the day they were born".
March. Lukashenka calls the Western sanctions against Russia and Belarus a rotten act: "It's all illegitimate... It's all illegal... It's just a rotten act!"
A few days later, the dictator said that Western countries would ask Minsk and Moscow to resume cooperation in a year after the imposition of sanctions:
"We'll wait a year, and then you'll see. They'll come to us, apologize and ask us to cooperate with them."
In the same month, Lukashenka suggested that Putin respond to the sanctions together.
May. The dictator acknowledged the weight of restrictions:
"I believe we will stand our ground. Of course, sanctions are bad. It's not a piece of cake".
However, he stressed at a meeting with the government that the sanctions are not a reason to panic, but one should not expect the situation "to solve itself".
"Domestic enterprises do face barriers artificially created on the external line. They have affected all stages of the production process: procurement of raw materials, transportation, payments, finance, credit support, export sales," Lukashenka admitted.
June. At a meeting with Sergey Lavrov, the dictator declared a hybrid war on the part of the West: "Money has been taken away. The economy is being strangled. Here we have a hybrid," he said.
July. In mid-summer, Lukashenka called the sanctions "blackmail on an international scale." "In fact, the sanctions are not against the Belarusian authorities but against the people, first of all working people. The purpose is to deprive them of income, to throw them out. In fact, this is a punitive operation in the modern manner".
November. The dictator complained about sanctions from Ukraine, stating that he treated Zelensky "like he was his own child".
December. Lukashenka says that Western sanctions against Belarus and Russia "are starting to subside". Although GDP reduction by the end of 2022 is expected to reach 5%.
How the authorities punish those suspected of calling for restrictive measures
It is obvious from Lukashenka's rhetoric that the issue of Western sanctions is a painful topic for him: he fears mass discontent in the country because of the worsening economic situation.
The consequence is likely to be severe punishment of those suspected of calling for restrictions. In the fall of 2021, officials said that the penalty for calling for sanctions would be six years in prison. But later that year, the new law would contain even more draconian measures.
In Belarus, Belarus authorities can now sentence one to six years in prison if the calls for sanctions address the ordinary people. Up to 10 years - if they address foreign governments, international and foreign organizations. Up to 12 years - if such appeals come from "officials using their authority," or have caused, for example, the restriction of trade or inclusion of businesses in the sanctions list.
Here are some recent examples of how the new law is applied in practice.
A few weeks ago, a court sentenced in absentia Aliaksandra Herasimenya and Aliaksandr Opeikin, who now live abroad, to 12 years in prison for calling for sanctions. According to the media, the swimmer had her property confiscated: more than $48,000 in bank accounts, an apartment, and a Land Rover car.
In early January, representatives of independent trade unions - political prisoners Henadz Fyadynich, Vasil Beresnev and Vyacheslau Areshka were sentenced to 8 to 9 years in prison. One of the three articles they were charged with was calling for sanctions.
The other day, the Investigative Committee announced the completion of the criminal investigation into the case against lawyer Aliaksandr Danilevich.
"Having cooperated with representatives of destructive cells, Herasimenya and Opeikin, he actively advised and promoted the processes of public calls of extremists to damage the national security of the Republic of Belarus. In particular, this was expressed in calls for sanctions against legal and natural persons in our country," the IC stated.
As an example, the agency called the preparation of letters and documents to the Norwegian company Yara, which acted as a major customer of Belaruskali.
Now Danilevich, who has been in custody since last May, faces a tough sentence.