Lukashenko Shares His Position on Pardoning Convicts After Meeting with Kellogg

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, after the official part of his speech at a solemn gathering celebrating Independence Day, spoke on several topics, one of which was recent negotiations with the US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg.

Following this, it became known that the head of state had pardoned a number of convicted individuals. The President shared his position on this matter and responded to critical remarks suggesting that perhaps this step should not have been taken, according to BELTA.

According to the head of state, he and Kellogg discussed the issue of so-called political prisoners for quite some time: "I once again noted that if you keep talking about 'political prisoners,' we will stop the conversation. Especially after the Middle East, where you destroyed, bombed, and killed people and children. Tens of thousands. Erased these poor people from the face of the earth. What political prisoners? Where did we go wrong? Agree (Americans - ed.), you said it once — and we never talked about it again."

Alexander Lukashenko shared his approach and attitude towards this issue: "Some may have talked and forgotten, but for me, this is a wound. I must resolve this problem. How? Only in your interests. I will never go against not only the opinion of the people but even against those security forces who stood in the street and who were injured. Those few people—I remember them."

The head of state noted that there were also those who criticized: "Why did Lukashenko forgive them? Why not let them die there?"

"Listen, do we have the goal of letting them die? God forbid, of course, no. Otherwise, the regime would be blamed. I would be blamed first and foremost. That's why we treat them normally. But prison is not a resort. Abuse is unacceptable," emphasized the Belarusian leader. "They are bad people, beasts, criminals. But I believe they are people."

"So, before discussing or condemning something, always ask yourself: 'What is the goal, the purpose, the reason?' If they had all died there, it would be very hard for us, and we would be accused of being responsible. So, this is politics. It’s not always straightforward. I often say this myself because I am sometimes too straightforward. But sometimes you need to calm down, think about the future, about the goal, about our state," said the President.

"This doesn’t mean we are releasing these bandits, and tomorrow they will blow up the country. They are bandits. Do you know where they are? Do you know who pays them? If they weren’t paid, they would have been gone long ago. So, those who pay them—do you know what their interest is in Belarus? You do. In this political tangle, we must stand firm, hold out, and in no case let ourselves be compromised, defending our interests," emphasized Lukashenko.

Alexander Lukashenko also noted that Belarusian security services are aware of and closely monitor these individuals, but much is not publicly disclosed.