Syarhei Parsyukevich: «Entrepreneurs will lose everything in the end of the year”

• 24.10.2008, 11:29

The former political prisoner Syarhei Parsyukevich stated in the interview to Radio Racyja, that the most difficult awful thing in the activities of entrepreneurs is pressure by the state.

Besides, before starting his business activities, Syarhei Parsyukevich waorke din law-enforcing agenvcies.

“I had to make my living somehow, so I decided that the fastest way to get into this track is to become a market vendor. And I succeeded. But first I had to find my field,” the political prisoner told.

Over his long experience of business experience Syarhei Parsyukevich faces all the professional problems other businessmen face.

“When I was still working as a policeman and wasn’t a market vendor, sometimes I drove near the market and saw vendors on a strike. I wondered what these people didn’t like. They simply do not want to work. And strangely enough, now I have a question: why markets were on a strike then? Their problems then as compared to present ones were not problems at all. And now it is difficult to urge markets to strike. And it is a problem of market vendors too. The most awful thing in the activities of entrepreneurs is pressure by the state, it is an attempt to demolish entrepreneurs in general as a class, and to take everything under control, into its own hands. That’s the beginning of al problems,” the former political prisoner believes.

Despite of all difficulties, Syarhei Parsyukevich has taken up an active position in defending his rights as a businessman.

“Essentially, I do not like any injustice, lies and everything connected with that. And I am a kind of person that does not hide one’s opinion in a pocket, I express it. I am a career officer, after all, a warrior, and I always defended people and my interests all my life. That is why I cannot sit in a bush when problems should be solved,” the entrepreneur says.

After the protest of businessmen Syarhei Parsyukevich was detained, placed to a remand prison and sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment. And he experienced the court system from inside.

“The matter is that it is degrading like everything else in the country. When I had shoulder straps and worked in the police, has made a deep impression on me. However, I had a different job, I was a forensic expert, and I faced that later. But it should be noted that it was a frame-up, not a case of some man who had stolen a hen from his neighbour. There is no total lawlessness in such cases. There was an order for my case. It was done in the way they needed, as they had been ordered,” the political prisoner underlined.

The businessman says there is a relation of his release with the work of Lord Bell for improving the image of the Belarusian leader.

“I found out on 17th that Kazulin was released, on the 20th I started work after being released from a quarantine (I have been in the quarantine for two times), I worked till the dinner, and then I went to work again, but I was told: you are summoned by the director of the colony. I was 99% sure why. When I came, I was told that I am released, there is a pardon decree, go and take your things, but quietly. It is clear it was impossible to hide that from people. People were glad, they supported me. I had to pack very quickly, the director of the colony gave me half an hour. And they came to me after 10 minutes. I even haven’t managed to pack my things,” Syarhei Parsyukevich recalls.

But he does not think his release a “step for liberalization” of Lukashenka’s regime.

“The conviction hasn’t been removed from official records. My wife personally signed a letter from the court, according to which I am to pay Mr Dulub in the suit. It looks absurd, as the man had violated the law, I still I have to pay money for that to him. It’s nonsense. Besides, I have been deprived of a possibility to gain my daily bread: I have been deprived of my license; I do not have a place on the market. I cannot work as a market vendor now. And my pension in the Interior Ministry has been reduced. I was given 300,000 Br last time,” the former political prisoner said.

To his mind, the entrepreneurs’ movement does not play an important role in democratization of Belarus, despite of the protest in the beginning of the year.

“I think that we haven’t demonstrated anything significant, as we haven’t reached great numbers. Why am I saying so? In Minsk there are about 50,000 businessmen, and only about 5,000 have taken part in the protest. Is it a great number? And it is understandable why people’s attitude was aggressive. I think that in the end of this year and in the beginning of the next everything could be more serious. If people were losing part of their business then, since January 2009 most of market vendors will lose everything. I think that people really can gather on the Square, and not only in Minsk. It looks as it is very likely,” Syarhei Parsyukevich says.

As we have informed, one of the leaders of the movement of businessmen, a political prisoner Syarhei Parsyukevich had been sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment on April 23 for participation in a protest rally of market vendors in Minsk on January 10. When he served the administrative arrest in the detention centre in Minsk, he was brutally beaten up by an officer of the prison Alyaksandr Dulub, but in order to avoid a punishment, the officer charged Parsyukevich with attacking him.