Sannikov: “Lukashenka has already held a rally on October Square. Let’s hold our rally!” (Photo, video)

• 10.12.2010, 0:15

A representative of the Prosecutor-General’s office tried to serve an official warning to the candidate for presidency at his meeting with voters in Minsk.

On December 9 in the Soviet district of Minsk, in the grammar school #15 in Maxim Bahdanovich Street, a meeting of a candidate for presidency in Belarus Andrei Sannikov with voter was held. Authorities give oppositional candidates for presidency premises only with little floor space. That is why all seats in the assembly hall were occupied, and people were standing in aisles. Then there was no more space there, and many had to stand in the lobby.

A well-known artist, the leader of “Pahonya” artistic association Ales Marachkin, and the editor-in-chief of charter97.org Natallya Radzina have also taken part in the meeting with Andrei Sannikov.

A few minutes before the meeting an employee of the Prosecutor-General’s office Pavel Radzivonau climbed the stage to serve the decree for allegedly illegal appeals during the televised speech to take part in an “unsanctioned rally” on the election day. The worker of the Prosecutor-General’s office handed in the papers, tried to excuse himself indistinctly. He could not give any answer to the demands of Sannikov to respect the law, and not be engaged in intimidation, and left.

And then the candidate for presidency addressed the voters.

“There are many people in this audience today not because it is the first meeting in Soviet district of Minsk. There are many people as we want changes. People want to live in a new free Belarus, People do not want to live under the dictatorship. They are ashamed. We all are ashamed.

My programme is called “Strong Belarus for Free People.” But we must be free to become strong. The main thing is that the Belarusians are a great nation; they can take matters into their own hands and decide their fate. It’s high time to change bald tyre!

The first step to the strong and democratic Belarus is change of power. This year we have a historic chance, and we should not miss it. It is a unique chance, when all Belarusian people are almost unanimous that we need elections. We must defend our right of choosing our leader and our government.

Before the beginning of our meeting a worker of the Prosecutor-General’s office came up to me with a warning that I allegedly appeal people to come to the Square on December 19 at 8 p.m. illegally. I appeal people to come legally. It is our right! We are a normal European country, and we must defend our right. We are a peaceful opposition, and we have a right to expect the results of the elections and observation together, and to decide what we should do with our Belarus. The prosecutor’s office employee has run away. His aim was to exert pressure on me before the speech. I want to ask him: where the representative of the prosecutor’s office was when Lukashenka confessed he had rigged the election results? Why a criminal case has not been opened against Lukashenka for rigging the election results? Why Lidziya Yarmoshyna is the chair of the Central Election Commission today, while she had announced for everyone to hear that she is a member of Lukashenka’s team? It is illegal, like Lukashenka’s participation in this election is illegal.

We are close to liberating our Belarus. We are close to start a free and dignified life, like our neighbours live, to have respect and support. But we should understand that it cannot happen just with a wave of a magic wand. Nothing could be done without our efforts. That is why I urge you: firstly – do not take part in early voting. I know that there would be pressure and attempts of blackmailing, but the regime uses it to rig election results. Secondly – vote for your candidate on the Election Day and come to the October Square on December 19 at 8 p.m. together to celebrate our victory. An unsanctioned rally called the “All-Belarusian People’s Congress” was held in the Palace of Republic for 2 days at the expense of the budget. What the Prosecutor’s office was doing then? Had Lukashenka submitted an appeal to Minsk city executive committee? Lukashenka has held his rally on October Square. Let’s hold our rally as well!”

Discussing the situation in the country was so heated that the badly heated assembly hall of the school became hot. Voters had so many questions that the hour and a half allocated for the meeting was not enough for them. At every meeting people are concerned how to fight with electoral fraud, how to change the power in the country finally, how to fight the legal lawlessness, what expects the country’s economy, what reforms would be held by president Sannikov.

There was a woman who had become tired by years of correspondence with bureaucrats and queues in their receiving rooms, and she asked Sannikov: “Do you understand that you are going to enter a cage of predators? We are fighting almost a civil war.”

The politician’s answer relaxed the atmosphere immediately, made people laugh and made them believe in their own forces. “You know that the authorities want us to think this way. In reality it is not a tiger’s cage. It is a cage with small rodents under a magnifying glass we are all made to look through,” Sannikov said.

Most of the people were unanimous – on December 19 they must take to the streets. People were interested what the reaction of law-enforcing agencies would be. “The law-enforcing agencies are also citizens of Belarus who want to live in a different way, and they do not want to tolerate humiliation they often feel. The country has not only stopped its development, it is sliding back quickly. We have been told bedtime stories for so many years, and the result is abysmal. They understand everything as well,” Sannikov said.

At that moment a note was received from the audience: “I am a member of the BRYU. But I am ashamed of that. What will you do with the BRYU when you come to power?” This message evoked applause of the audience.

“Financing of the BRYU form the budget will be stopped. Today the BRYU is an instrument of pressure, training of slaves, and not of free citizens. I am against such organizations,” the presidential candidate stated.

There was also a written report received that in this election the fraud could take place not in the precinct election commissions, but in district election commissions where there are no observers. The author of the message asked Sannikov to warn international observers about that. Sannikov assured he would do so.

In general, everyone was constantly saying that the nation had been deprived of the right of choice. “Let’s send Yarmoshyna to France, and everything will be alright here, we shall elect a new president,” a woman said.

Minsk dwellers were also interested what Lukashenka and Medvedev were discussing for an hour and a half in Moscow on December 9.

“They have signed again a document, in which Lukashenka is a professional now. They have signed an agreement on the single economic space, which is to come in force on January 1, 2012 after ratification. He can deceive them again, not to ratify it and not to sign. They have signed the document which does is not influence the today’s situation. I think that our common message to Russia is that we want normal relations. They are impossible under Lukashenka,” Sannikov stated.

In the end of the meeting a note was received from the audience. “I have birthday on December 19. I shall celebrate it on October Square. I invite there the most respectable people of Belarus with me.” The answer was a storm of applause. The invitation was accepted.