Pavel Latouchko, former Belarusian minister: "We want to break the political apparatus from within"
Former Minister Pavel Latouchko, one of the great figures of the current opposition to Alexander Lukacehenko, on August 25, 2020 in Minsk.
AP - Sergei Grits
Text by: Sophia Khatsenkova Follow
5 mins
Former Ambassador to Poland and France, Minister of Culture from 2009 to 2012, Pavel Latouchko is one of the most senior officials of Alexander Lukashenko's regime to join the ranks of the opposition after the contested election in August 2020. Like many opponents, he had to flee his country and took refuge in Poland.
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RFI: Belarusians are marking a sad anniversary today: that of the contested re-election of Alexander Lukashenko and of a protest movement repressed in violence. How do you analyze the political situation in Belarus?
Pavel Latouchko
:
The situation is critical and dramatic in Belarus, because the repression is intensifying. In one year, ten people lost their lives. There are over 1,000 political prisoners, and over 40,000 people have been arrested since last year. The regime of Alexander Lukashenko does not intend to stop there: more than 4,000 new legal proceedings have been initiated against demonstrators in recent months.
Civil society has been wiped out.
The majority of independent media have been censored.
NGOs can no longer do their job.
But Belarusians are trying to oppose as best they can, because currently, we can no longer demonstrate in the streets.
It has become so absurd that today, you can go to prison for having stuck a white sheet on your window (Editor's note: white is one of the colors of the opposition).
This is unheard of in Europe, for a very long time.
How is the political opposition organized
?
We absolutely have to organize a broader coalition of democratic forces, in order to mobilize more intellectual and human resources, so that we have even more leeway. It is also necessary to hold a congress of Belarusians, at home and abroad. We must be better organized and rally as many people as possible to form this coalition, which will decide on a strategy for ending the political crisis.
The main strategies are first and foremost more mobilizations within the country. For example, we are organizing massive strikes to block everything. As for the external strategy, we must continue to isolate Alexander Lukashenko from the rest of the international community. International sanctions must also be tightened. Finally, legal pressures must be stepped up. For this, we are counting on the political will of European governments. An international criminal case must be initiated against Alexander Lukashenko.
If the European Union does not find an instrument to try to resolve the political crisis, and it does not support the Belarusian people, it will call into question the whole authority of Europe.
So that would mean that other dictators could do the same in Europe in the future.
Alexander Lukashenko continues to cling to power.
He represses all people who have a different opinion from his.
During the protests, people were tortured and killed, others were raped.
Can Europe accept this?
I do not think so, but it is time for the European Union to react and take firmer decisions.
Are you in contact with members of the government of Alexander Lukashenko
?
I have received many messages of support from former ministers and members of government.
Today, I am in contact with officials, but the problem is that they are all very afraid to join our ranks.
I can understand them because I am currently under criminal prosecution in four cases in Belarus, including one where I face the death penalty.
So that's another strategy we're working on: breaking the political apparatus from within.
We want to give all these officials the choice to be able to leave and make the right choice, not to commit crimes in the name of the authorities.
Because any crime will be punished one day or another.
Since you have been in exile in Poland, have you continued to receive threats
?
Every day.
This Sunday, I was leaving a rally, a man came to me to warn me that someone from the regime could stab me in the back at any time.
Alexander Lukashenko said he wanted to strangle me with his own hands.
The Belarusian KGB has already announced that it has all the means and the will to liquidate all members of the opposition, if it so chooses.
Unfortunately, you get used to receiving this kind of pressure every day.
→ Read also:
Belarus, one year after the disputed re-election of Lukashenko
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