On the illegal criminal prosecution by the Lukashenka regime
The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (“the BNR Rada”) takes note of the information about the illegal criminal prosecution initiated against it by the authorities of the illegitimate regime headed by A. Lukashenka.
This action will in no way affect the activities of the BNR Rada, its interaction with the democratic forces of Belarus and its support for Belarusian volunteers who are fighting for the freedom and independence of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the illegal decisions and actions of the Lukashenka regime, driven by its extremist ideology, including those of a pseudo-juridical nature, add to the list of actions subject to criminal prosecution once legal order is restored on the territory of Belarus.
The accusations against the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, including statements about its alleged denial of the independence of Belarus, are obviously false and absurd, especially considering that the BNR Rada first declared Belarus a sovereign state on 25 March 1918, thereby initiating the history of the modern independent Belarus.
Also, the BNR Rada reminds that it has repeatedly condemned the totalitarian regimes that committed crimes on the territory of Belarus, including the regime of the German National Socialists.
In particular, in its statement on 22 June 2021, adopted on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Belarus, the BNR Rada said the following:
“The BNR Rada stands in solidarity with the decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunal in condemning proven war crimes committed on the territory of Belarus by German troops and their allies, including both Belarusians, and Russian nationalists, and representatives of other countries. The BNR Rada condemns all organisations recognised as criminal by the decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
At the same time, the BNR Rada condemns the abuse of the tragedy of the Second World War by the propaganda of the totalitarian Soviet regime and its modern heirs.
The communist authorities used the trauma of the Belarusian people from the war in order to manipulate our people, to incite hatred towards other countries, to hide the memory of mass Soviet political terror and mass Soviet war crimes, as well as to strengthen their criminal anti-Belarusian political regime.
The BNR Rada declares that Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the former president of Belarus, is the only head of a modern European state who is an open ideological follower of both the Soviet and Hitler’s regimes.
A. Lukashenka publicly made anti-Semitic statements and statements about the inferiority of the Belarusian language, culture and statehood.
A. Lukashenka publicly expressed his admiration for the political practices of A. Hitler. During his almost three decades of illegal rule, he modeled Belarus’ political system on Hitler’s principles, showing contempt for democratic freedoms, human rights, and for parliamentary democracy, while consolidating absolute power.”
In addition, in its statement on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War on 8 May 2015, the BNR Rada stated the following:
“The victory over National Socialist Germany, to which the Belarusian people had made an important contribution, saved millions of people from the direct threat of physical extermination. Unfortunately, as a result of the war, Belarus did not gain freedom, but remained under Soviet occupation for almost 50 years, which was accompanied by Russification and repression against dissenters, including supporters of the state sovereignty of Belarus.
Humanity must honor the memory of the victims of the Second World War and do everything to ensure that such wars never happen again.”
Below are links to statements and publications of the BNR Rada on this topic:
Statement of the BNR Rada on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War (08/05/2015, in English):
STATEMENT OF THE BNR RADA ON THE OCCASION OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WORLD WAR II
Declaration of memory and solidarity (30/10/2016, in English):
International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27/01/2017, in Belarusian)
European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Nazism and Stalinism (23/08/2017, in Belarusian):
Statement of the BNR Rada on the 80th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (23/08/2019, in English):
Statement of the BNR Rada on the 80th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The memory of the Second World War should be the foundation of peace, freedom and democracy – Statement of the BNR Rada (22/06/2021):
(Unofficial translation from Belarusian)
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The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (the BNR Rada), founded in 1917, is the oldest active Belarusian governmental institution. Since 1918, the BNR Rada has served as the temporary supreme governing body of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, the first Belarusian democratic state whose independence was declared on 25 March 1918. The BNR Rada was forced to relocate from Belarus in 1919 due to the invasion by Soviet Russia and has been operating in exile ever since, now representing a more than a century old Belarusian democratic political tradition.
