Chris Smith: Lukashenka dictatorship should be held accountable for crimes
Smith has called the Belarusian presidential election, which took place last December, a "mockery reminiscent of the late Soviet era".
"The Lukashenka dictatorship that rules Belarus should be held accountable for its crimes against the Belarusian people in their struggle for freedom, human rights, and democracy", said Congressman Chris Smith at a Congress' hearing dedicated to the situation in Belarus.
He has reminded that the election was accompanied with crackdowns on the democratic political opposition and independent media, unfair trials, harsh sentences, harassment and intimidation by the KGB, interrogations, raids, and other forms of pressure on families of the opposition.
“Alexander Lukashenka continues to turn a deaf ear to all criticism of his government. After the election, Lukashenka said that Belarus will have no more ‘mindless democracy,’ clearly manifesting his sneering contempt for the Belarusian people, many of whose lives he has ruined – and whose country he stole 16 years ago, transforming it into a grotesque anomaly, Europe’s last dictatorship,” said Smith.
The Chairman of the Europe and Eurasia Subcommittee Dan Burton, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dan Russell, and the "Freedom House" executive director David Kramer took part in the hearing, BelaPAN informs.
