Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today, the regime in Belarus signed the decree on death penalty for "attempted acts of terrorism", and on the same day, reports came that sales of Orwell's 1984 were allegedly banned. In the future Belarus, when flashing back to this time, we will find it hard to believe that all of this was really happening to us.
Orwell in his book gave a good prediction of the only thing Belarus can hope for under Lukashenka. He put it this way: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever”.
I am not sure whether Belarus is the leader in the number of “terrorists” per capita, but our country is definitely the leader in terms of how many beautiful and talented people this word is used against. The regime thinks “terrorists” are journalists, human rights defenders, doctors, workers – and other honest and decent people. And all of them, as one, are Lukashenka's opponents. Just like Yury Zakharanka, Viktar Hanchar, Anatoli Krasouski, Dzmitry Zavadski, who disappeared in 1999-2000. And if you go out on the street and ask Belarusians what they think had happened to them, you will see a public consensus: they were killed on Lukashenka's orders.
To kill people simply for having a different opinion, the death penalty is now extended to those who “intended” to commit an act of terrorism. Lukashenka, through MP Maryna Liancheuskaya, simply decided to label political murders as “legal”. I am mentioning this name for a reason. After all, in a mature society, to which we aspire, everyone has to understand the responsibility for the actions committed. Lukashenka is a criminal and a dictator, but he could not torment the Belarusian people for so long if those around him did not help him do so. Yes, he has no future, and he knows he is going down. But all the people who carry out criminal orders and pass monstrous laws will face a hard future. We have already submitted to the EU for future sanctions a list of so-called MPs who supported this law and voted for it. After all, these people are Lukashenka’s boot which has been stamping the face of our people for years. And this boot will soon have no master”.
