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Mikola Statkevich: “I don’t exclude they’re tortured”

  • 10.07.2008, 17:10

Mikola Statkevich, head of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Narodnaya Hramada”, one of the leaders of the European coalition, said the law enforcement agencies would continue to tighten pressure on the opposition in the connection with the blast of 4 July. He also doesn’t exclude the arrested over this case can be tortured in prison.

“I imagine what pressure the people, detained over the case, feel now in the places of detention. I don’t exclude they are tortured not only morally but also physically. Investigators will try to break them in order anyone to confess his or her guilt, and then the work will be done – here is an offender, who is an oppositionist. The authorities, knowing it’s not the truth, will say this version is true. There are judges, able to fulfil any order,” Mikola Statkevich told in an interview to Radio Svaboda.

According to Mikola Statkevich, the authorities resemble a person who, having lost his wallet in the dark forest, is looking for it near a lantern, because it’s lighter there.

“A blast in Minsk is a KGB failure, first of all, failure of a department dealing with protection of the constitutional system and counterterrorism. This agency has focused its efforts on watching the schoolchildren, who post stickers “I love Belarus”. If they have caught 10 such schoolchildren, it is a reason for advance in rank and bonus payment. Their most popular operation is to puncture wheels in an opposition politician’s car.

And these “professionals”, who disqualified themselves, have faced a situation of a real terroristic act. Where do they look for them? Where they have used to. Professionalism of the Belarusian secret services is on a very low level... They just don’t know how to work with the cases of terrorism,” the former military man believes.

Mikola Statkevich, a former head of the Belarusian Association of Military Men, to which one of the detained over the blast case Syarhei Chyslau belonged to, reminded that in 1993 the Kebich’s government unsuccessfully tried to accuse the BAM of organising a bomb blast on Independence square. A bomb exploded in a litter bin, no people were injured.

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