I receive dozens of threats that my head will be cut off, that I will be buried alive, that a group of criminals has already been sent after me – Paweł Łatuszka informed. The Belarusian oppositionist and former ambassador of Belarus to Poland, together with the National Anti-Crisis Board headed by him, handed over to the International Criminal Court evidence of the participation of Alyaksandr Lukashenko and four other people in war crimes against Ukrainian children. “They want to demotivate me, but it won’t work,” he assured, referring to the Belarusian regime.
Pawel Latuszka in an interview with the Polish Press Agency, he informed that since 2020 he has been receiving messages with threats to deprive him of his life. He noted that they intensified after he began to disclose facts related to the participation of the Belarusian authorities in the abduction to Belarus Ukrainian children from areas occupied by Russia.
“These are dozens of threats that my head will be cut off, that I will be buried alive, that a group of criminals has already been sent after me to do it,” he said. He noted that “some of these threats have been reported to the prosecutor’s office.”
“Considering you are corrupt (expletive), you started a topic around children with Donbasswhich the Belarusian nation treats. And you wrote crap like kidnapping. And now Pashka remember, you have (vulgarity), such scum should not live. Our group is already in Warsaw. Expect guests,” read the email translated from Russian.
The Belarusian oppositionist mentioned that some of the less violent messages he receives via e-mail and instant messengers talk about holding him accountable or depriving him of citizenship.
– On July 10 this year, a law entered into force that gives (Alexander) Lukashenka the opportunity to deprive citizenship for 55 reasons, even those people who are born in Belarus. They want to demotivate me, but it won’t work.
Latushka about Lukashenko: he wanted to go down in history as the best leader, and he will end his career as a suspect or convicted person
Latushka noted that the disclosure by him and the National Anti-Crisis Board (NZA) of information indicating the involvement of Lukashenko and four other people in war crimes against Ukrainian children exposed the weak points of the regime. In his opinion, this is a breakthrough moment for the Belarusian authorities, because the moment is coming “to bring him (Lukashenka) to international responsibility.”
– For him (Lukashenka) this is a very painful situation, because he wanted to go down in history as the best leader who created an independent Belarus, and he will end his career as a person suspected or convicted of war crimes. This is contrary to his understanding of himself and it hurts him a lot – assessed Łatuszka.
According to information from the Supreme Administrative Court, Lukashenka was to hold several meetings on this matter, attended by, among others, representatives of the secret services and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As he stated, they were to be tasked with counteracting the dissemination of inconvenient information and communicating in contacts with international organizations that actions against children are only humanitarian aid.
At the end of June, the NZA handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) evidence of the involvement of Alyaksandr Lukashenko and four others in war crimes against Ukrainian children. According to them, more than 2,100 Ukrainian children from at least 15 cities occupied by Russia were forcibly deported to Belarus with the consent of Lukashenko. These children were then to be transported to Russia.
READ MORE: They will investigate the role of Belarus in the illegal deportations of Ukrainian children
Russians take children out of Ukraine like Nazis take children out of Poland. “This analogy is extremely powerful”Russia is copying Hitler’s crimes by kidnapping children. Historians who study the fate of minors deported during World War II cannot resist the impression that today in Ukraine Russia is copying the same mechanism that was used by Germany. Material of “Facts about the world” TVN24 BiS.Jakub Loska | Facts about the world TVN24 BiS
Paweł Łatuszka currently heads the National Anti-Crisis Board. In the past, he was, among others, the ambassador of Belarus in Poland, the minister of culture and the director of the National Academic Theater named after Janki Kupala in Minsk.
In August 2020, he was fired from his post after publicly supporting post-election protests in his country. He then joined the opposition Coordination Council. In March 2023, he was sentenced in absentia by a court in Minsk to 18 years in prison.
Sentence of the Belarusian regime and political prisoners of Alyaksandr Lukashenko. The whole conversation with Paweł ŁatuszkaTVN24
Main photo source: TATYANA ZENKOVICH/PAP/EPA