Lukashenko ordered Babariko to be given a full term
A failed candidate for the presidency of Belarus, who could become the most serious competitor of Alexander Lukashenko, ex-banker Viktor Babariko has been charged with accepting bribes and laundering proceeds from crime on an especially large scale.
The Belarusian KGB reported this on its official website, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“All the defendants fully admitted their guilt in the crimes they were charged with, with the exception of Viktor Babariko,” the statement says.
The management of Belgazprombank was arrested in early June. This gave the authorities a reason not to register Babariko, former chairman of the board of Belgazprombank, as a presidential candidate.
The ex-banker attended the famous meeting of political prisoners with President Lukashenko in October. After this, most of the participants in the conversation were released with different wording. Babariko and another failed presidential candidate, blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, remained seated.
The filing of charges against Babariko shatters the last hopes of the Belarusian opposition, which until recently continued to believe that Lukashenko, frightened by Western sanctions, would release Babariko.
“Are there candidates that would be acceptable to Belarusian society, the EU and Russia? I think this should be a pragmatic politician. We are confident that we must also take into account those people who are behind bars today. I would not be surprised if all political prisoners, including one of the leaders, Viktor Babariko, are released in the near future. It seems to me that now personal ambitions should fade into the background.
We proposed several options for getting out of the legal impasse in which we all found ourselves due to Lukashenko’s fault. This is a constitutional option that would suit everyone. It involves the departure of Lukashenko, the appointment of an acting prime minister, the parliament calling new elections and the election of a new president,” oppositionist Pavel Latushko, who fled to Poland, said earlier in an interview with the Russian liberal TV channel Dozhd.
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