Paznyak claims that putsch prepared by Lukashenka failed

1996-10-22 11:15

Minsk, 22 October. The Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) has made public a message received from Zyanon Paznyak on October 20, in which he commented on recent political events in Belarus.
The message reads that "the peaceful protest demonstration which was held in Minsk on October 19 was a psychological victory over the forces of dictatorship and occupation. The fact that Lukashenka's criminal and insane plans to use arms against people... were revealed and published in the democratic press, the fact that they became known to the Belarusian and international community beforehand, all this made junta abandon its plans and refrain from the direct use of force because those who had planned a carnage realized that they would not manage to shift the blame onto the demonstrators, even formally... Now it is safe to say that a sanguinary putsch, which Lukashenka was preparing together with Russian General Lebed has failed."