Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko struggled to contain his irritation before snapping at a BBC journalist on Sunday, making veiled threats as the reporter bravely grilled him over his sham election.
Dubbed ‘Europe’s last dicator’, Lukashenko is set to extend his 31-year rule over the country after the rigged election, which saw him re-elected with 86.8 per cent of the vote.
Lukashenko only allowed four token candidates who he approved of to have their names on the ballot paper, while his real opponents are either locked up or in exile.
After casting his vote on election day, the president gave a four-hour-long press conference, with questions from media organisations friendly to his regime as well as foreign outlets.
The BBC’s Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg, whose questions have attracted the fury of the dictator and his ally Vladimir Putin previously, was warned by Lukashenko: ‘Don’t overdo it, Steve’.
Their tense exchange began with a frosty comment from Lukashenko, who asked Rosenberg: ‘What wretched question have you got prepared for me?’
‘Good morning,’ the journalist replied as members of the press press laughed along with the president, who then said ‘good morning, Steve.’
‘How can these elections be called democratic when your staunchest opponents and rivals are either in prison or in exile?’ Rosenberg asked.
‘Some are in prison and some are in exile, but you’re here,’ Lukashenko responded menacingly. ‘Everyone has the right to choose. That’s democratic. Some chose prison, others chose exile.’
He then told Rosenberg: ‘We didn’t force anyone out of this country, what’s more we opened up the country.
‘I must have said five times already that we don’t bare a grudge, we’re not spiteful. Everyone will be given a chance.’
He then went on to threaten: ‘I’ll tell you frankly, Steve, if you had broken the law you wouldn’t be sitting here. You probably wouldn’t have come here.’
Rosenberg calmly brought the subject back to his previous question, pointing to a comment made by Lukashenko recently. ‘But you said a few days ago that “we mustn’t shut anyone’s mouth.” You said that.’
Lukashenko, who became increasingly irate as he continued to be challenged, said: ‘Absolutely not. I’m not shutting your mouth… I said we will build our country and won’t let anyone have their mouth shut.’
‘But your main rivals are not only kept off the ballot, but some of them are in prison,’ Rosenberg hit back. ‘What’s more there are still more than 1,200 political prisoners.’
‘Hang on, we’ve released quite a few,’ Lukashenko protested. ‘It used to be 1,200.’
When Rosenberg responded that it is ‘still that number,’ the dictator claimed again it had reduced. ‘If you subtract more than 200 what do you get? Didn’t you go to school?’ he taunted.
‘My point is that if no one should have their mouth shut, maybe it’s time to open the cells and release these political prisoners,’ Rosenberg said.
He referred directly to peaceful protesters Maria Kalesnikava, who was given 11 years in jail for supposedly threatening to overthrow the government, and Sergei Tikhanovsky, a YouTuber who was given 18 years for organising mass protests.
Increasingly irritated by the line of questioning, Lukashenko exclaims ‘My God!’ but says he will answer the question.
‘Are you talking about shutting mouths or shutting people in prison? Mouths are one thing, but prison is for people who opened their mouths too wide. Who broke the law. That’s only natural.’
‘You’re asking me whatever you want to and I’m saying what I want. Don’t overdo it, Steve,’ he then warned.
‘In any country if you break the law, you have to bear responsibility. The law is harsh but it’s still the law. It wasn’t me who thought that up.’
Lukashenko has ruled the former Soviet republic with an iron fist for over 30 years having gained power in 1994.
The 70-year-old seemingly sailed to victory in Sunday’s vote, but the election was condemned as a sham by the European Union due to the lack of independent media in the country and the opposition candidates who remain loyal to Lukashenko.
Lukashenko said he did not care whether or not the bloc recognised the results.
The vote takes place five years after the turbulent 2020 election which saw Lukashenko’s grip on power almost come loose after millions of citizens flooded the street condemning the result and demanding the president resigns.
In response to months of protests, Lukashenko arrested 65,000 people and forced opposition figures to flee abroad.
This included the de facto leader of Belarus‘ opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya who stood against Lukashenko at the time.
Minsk and its ally Moscow have been suppressed freedom of speech and media freedom for decades, with their crackdowns increasingly brutal in recent years amid political protests and the war in Ukraine.
In 2021, Rosenberg’s BBC colleague Sarah Rainsford was expelled from Russia hours after questioning Lukashenko over the the torture and imprisonment of peaceful protesters.
Rosenberg has continued to challenge both Lukashenko and Putin, and in December left the Russian dictator fuming after asking him ‘do you think you’ve taken care of Russia?’
Speaking at the BRICS conference, Rosenberg went on: ‘Because looking in, what do we see? We see substantial losses in the so-called “special military operation” that you declared.
‘We see Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. You criticise NATO expansion but there is now more NATO on Russia’s borders: Sweden and Finland.
‘Sanctions, high inflation, demographic problems. Do you think you’ve taken care of your country?’
Putin responded by mocking Britain’s shrinking economy and claimed he has ‘pulled Russia back from the abyss’ – making no reference to Russia’s heavy losses in Ukraine, spiraling inflation or other issues facing Russia under his rule.
