Those who are ready to live peacefully and create value for their country should not be rejected by society

Protection of legal rights and interests of Belarusian citizens became one of the main issues on the agenda of the meeting to review the social and political situation and the crime rate in the country, which was chaired by Aleksandr Lukashenko

The President touched upon a number of other pressing issues, including maintenance and repair of roads and the operation of sole traders. The Head of State also instructed to more actively promote and demonstrate the achievements of the Belarusian scientists, which are in high demand in society given the great interest in the ongoing Intellectual Belarus exhibition.
“The topic of today’s talk is crime, the crime rate in the country. I ask you to pay special attention to crimes of a terrorist nature. This is very important for us today,” Aleksandr Lukashenko
said, emphasising that the main issue is the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of citizens. 
The President continued, 

“I would like to discuss with you the ways to address the issue related to those who spoke out against the state (we all remember the year 2020), left the country (some are serving sentences), and have repented today but are afraid to come back, or ask me for pardon. I feel that a certain part of our society is showing an interest in the matter. I have instructed the Administration to consider the issue together with the public and propose a mechanism for its solution.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko explained why he had instructed to study the relevant topic with the participation of the public, “I carry out my duties according to the Constitution of our country. I am in charge of the country as I was before. As for the law enforcement officers, you should agree that they played their role in 2020. They did not fail in general at that time. They performed the tasks that were assigned to them. I followed this topic non-stop, gave the appropriate instructions, and the security forces did not falter, did not retreat, and did not fail anywhere. Of course, I take their opinion into account today. The opinion of the people who serve in special units is very important to me. These are the military people who helped return order inside the country. Our internal troops stood strong here. I respect them deeply, and I take their opinion into account.”
The President added that it is the duty of the military and civil servants, on the one hand, to act tough, defending the country as well as law and order, but at the same time, following the interests of the state, to meet somebody halfway if necessary.

“I said this in the church: we should not create any additional points of tension in our society... Those who are ready to live peacefully and create value for their country should not be rejected by society. This is an axiom. And if we are wise people and the government has signs of wisdom, it should act accordingly. We should not shun those who stumbled and realised it, we should offer a conciliatory gesture. But only to those who will be released from jail or return from abroad and will become even more ardent supporters of Lukashenko than those who already are. There are such people indeed,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

 According to the President, the enemy will prevent these people from returning home in every possible way, “We see this. For the self-exiled opposition who uses the interests of the people as a bargaining chip, ordinary people will always be a battering ram to fight against the state and a stable source of personal wealth… You have probably noticed this flurry of hateful reports in Telegram channels, chats and so on that came in response to my suggestion to talk to those who realised their guilt and wanted to live in their homeland. They wrote that security forces seized those who tried to return, put them in jail, nearly killed them! This is absolute nonsense. Nobody is rounding up anyone. But why are they acting like that? Because the reason why opposition leaders are given money is that there are several thousand people who fled with them. The West knows that it might be able to use these people against our country in the future. And these allegedly 1,500-2,000 fugitives are led by these opposition leaders whose offices receive some funding. We know for sure that these unfortunate 1,500 get one or two cents of this money. The rest stays in the pockets at headquarters, offices.”
The Head of State is convinced, 

“Everyone who wants to mend their ways and make amends should have a chance for leniency. Those who deliberately broke the law, endangered human lives, continue destructive activities against our country with the support of Western intelligence agencies will be held accountable.” 

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that there is a lot of work to be done to sort everything out.
The President emphasised, “We should not act indiscriminately, because in this case our supporters will have every reason to change their mind about us, and we will lose them, We, together with journalists, bloggers, those who were on the frontline, will decide what to do with those who have realised what they did, who have repented and made a public statement about it, which is mandatory. But a step forward must be taken. Yet, we should not lose sight of the fact that some of them might take advantage of our conciliatory gesture and inflict some damage. It is also in the interests of intelligence services of foreign states, especially our close-door neighbours who are mean-spirited towards us (they are acting worse than countries that are further away from our borders). Therefore, our task is to apply an individual approach to everyone and to take fair decisions.”
If the Belarusians had not survived in 2020, it would be worse in the country now than in Ukraine, the President is sure.

“Some are lying in wait. Some are very vocal about their positions. We respond harshly. The events of 2020 will not be repeated. It is bad that the situation around the country is such, especially with regard to dear Ukraine.

But that’s a lesson for all ten million Belarusians and people who visit us. Everyone has already understood: if we had not survived the 2020 events, the country would have been worse off than Ukraine. Of course, we react harshly to this. We will never allow the events of 2020 to happen again. The pandemic and other issues, pre-election and election issues played their role, but this is not an excuse. We need to rally together now in order to survive, and to avoid war,” the President said.   The Head of State noted that the West has not abandoned its plans for Belarus. Ukraine continues to train militants and extremists.
“I don’t know why Ukraine needs this. On the one hand, they ask us not to send troops to Ukraine. They suggest a non-aggression pact. On the other hand, they are preparing this explosive mixture and arming them. Poland and Lithuania have taken leave of their wits whatsoever. Why are they acting like that? I don’t get it. Therefore, we are forced to react harshly. We have enough problems along the perimeter — both in the airspace and on the ground, the green border. We have enough problems there. Let’s hope we cope with all of them. We do not need internal problems. Therefore, the reaction to this internal opposition, which are more like extremists, like cockroaches crawling out of the woodwork, will be tough. They should consider themselves warned,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Prosecutor General Andrei Shved noted that the situation in the country allows us to address the issues of returning to their homeland those people who, for some reason, left Belarus after the events of 2020, but sincerely repented.
“Our country has an absolutely manageable, calm environment. People live a peaceful, calm life. Without fear, at any time they walk along our streets, walk with children. Therefore, the law enforcement unit will continue to do everything necessary to ensure public safety,” he said.
Speaking about the return of the repentant, Andrei Shved said, “Of course, they will definitely have such an opportunity. A fundamental decision has been made. An interdepartmental commission will be created, which will be headed by the Prosecutor General. This commission will include representatives of the public, deputies and officials of state bodies. Those who are abroad, wish to return to their homeland, but are afraid of something, will have the opportunity to apply to the commission and receive an appropriate explanation. This information will be posted in all media.”
At the same time, the applicant will be informed about the possibility of returning, the presence or absence of any claims against him from the state authorities.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by
Photos by BELTA