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In an unexpected move, Belarusian leader Aleksandar Lukashenko claimed to be an authoritarian state, although he accompanied this confession by claiming that there are no political prisoners in his isolated country.
“Yes, our system of power is tougher. I don’t even rule out the term ‘authoritarian,’” he told AFP.
The Belarusian human rights group Viasna says that 1,259 political prisoners are currently behind bars in Belarus. Lukashenko denied these claims. He insists that no one from the opposition is being held in prison. Meanwhile, the case of video blogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski who intended to run for president, but was disqualified and arrested before the vote in August 2020, is well known.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has tried to paint the opposition movement against him as a Western-backed conspiracy. Even in this case, he did not spare criticism for the Belarusians who participated in the protests against his re-election in the 2020 presidential elections.
“Those people have gone against the state. Not against the authorities, but against their state and nation”, was the comment of the Belarusian president. The 67-year-old leader managed to suppress mass popular protests with the help of his early ally, Vladimir Putin, and their leaders were either imprisoned or fled abroad.
“I am not a dictator”, said Lukashenko, although he admitted that Belarus has “elements of authoritarianism”. “I am not as wild as you think”, he added. Since the suppression of the protests, the Belarusian authorities have targeted any individual who has shown dissent against the state.
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