Alexander Lukashenko, the embattled President of Belarus president says he cannot cave in to the demands of anti-government protesters, because otherwise his legacy would be destroyed and his supporters violently persecuted.
The long time incumbent has warned that has no intention of standing down from power now because 'too much is at stake,' he said in an interview to Russian media, RT among them, on Tuesday.
I have to defend what has been created by our hands, protect the people who helped create it, the majority that voted for me.
The president has faced mass protests over the outcome of last month’s election. According to official results, he won it in a landslide, but the opposition insists the voting was rigged and are demanding his resignation. Authorities have responded with a controversial heavy-handed police crackdown, stirring public anger and prompting thousands to take to the streets.
Also on rt.com Tens of thousands again hit streets of Minsk as protests continue across Belarus for 4th consecutive weekend (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)Lukashenko claimed, contrary to the opposition’s messaging, that if his opponents win, people who work for him will face violence and persecution.
Those riot police boys and others who are with me… What’s their fault? And they [opposition] will slaughter them.
The president reiterated his claim that the protests were organized by foreign forces which presumably fuel them through social media.
“How do you counter those channels on Telegram? Can you block them? Nobody can, even those who invented this internet, the Americans.” He added that Russia will be targeted with a similar attack soon if Belarus falls.
Also on rt.com 'Abducted' protest leader Kolesnikova 'ripped up passport' to prevent deportation from Belarus to Ukraine - conflicting reportsLukashenko said many of the people supporting the protests in Belarus are too young to remember what the situation in the country was like over two decades ago when he first took power. Asked about his plans for eventual retirement, he said he may stand down, but his primary concern now is “not to allow everything we created with the people, with those generations, to be destroyed.”
The Belarusian leader gave the interview to journalists from five Russian state-backed media outlets, including RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.
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