Appeal of the deputies of regional legislative assemblies of the Russian Federation, 12.08.2020

On August 9, 2020, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya won the presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus. Numerous evidence gives every reason to believe that the election results were falsified. Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of the elections, against the will of the Belarusian people.

The scale of falsifications was record-breaking in the entire post-Soviet history of Belarus. Thousands of people across the country have been involved in criminal vote rigging. It is obvious that these actions were managed by the Central Electoral Commission of Belarus.

The highest state authority in Belarus has been usurped. The country continues to be governed by a politician who has not been elected to his office by the people.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the elected President of the Republic of Belarus, was forced to leave the country, obviously, there were criminal threats in relation to her and her relatives, that forced her out of the territory of Belarus. Violence against the elected head of state and her family members is a particularly grave crime.

In response to the just and legitimate indignation of millions of voters in Belarus, massive political repressions were launched on the order of Lukashenko involving units of the armed forces, police and special forces. Dozens of thousands of people were severely beaten, thousands were detained and arrested, many were wounded, and there are reports on those killed. There are Russian citizens among the detainees. Their relatives do not know anything about the whereabouts and condition of a significant part of the detained and arrested. There is ample evidence of torture.

The security, defence and law enforcement structures of Belarus publicly display monstrous cruelty, evoking associations with the darkest times of the 20th century, including the atrocities of the invaders that took place on the territory of Belarus during the Second World War. Over the course of several days, the security forces who participated in the suppression of the popular protest committed grave and especially grave criminal offenses. The general scale of violence allows us to speak of a crime against humanity, justice for which is not limited to the territoriality of the state.

Since August 10, 2020, the political system of the Republic of Belarus can be defined as a fascist dictatorship. Supporting this dictatorship in any form is immoral.

In such a situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the morning of August 10, congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his victory in the elections, thereby recognising such elections as lawful, and Lukashenko as the legitimate head of state.

Acting on behalf of Russia, Vladimir Putin in no way assessed the situation with human and civil rights and freedoms in Belarus, supported not the Belarusian society in its just demand for free and fair elections, but a politician who usurped power. This action directly contradicts the state interests of Russia as a democratic state.

We see an obvious political continuity of the policies of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus and Vladimir Putin in Russia. The destruction of the constitutional foundations of the state, the “reset” of the presidential terms [for Vladimir Putin], the elimination of public policy, the abolition of the independence of the courts, the omnipotence of the special services, the suppression of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, the criminalisation of elections sadly brings together the developments in our countries.

We see a direct political projection of the barbaric events in Belarus in 2020 on the upcoming parliamentary and 2024 presidential elections in Russia in 2021.

The legitimisation of the lifelong rule of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus corresponds to the same legitimisation of the lifelong rule of Vladimir Putin in Russia.

We, deputies of the regional legislative assemblies of the Russian Federation, representing the interests of all democratic voters in Russia, declare our non-recognition of the official results of the presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus and our solidarity with the demands of the civil society of Belarus on the illegitimacy of the power of Alexander Lukashenko.

We demand the immediate release of all political prisoners in Belarus, including Russian citizens, and the initiation of criminal cases against all persons who ordered, organised and carried out mass violence against civilians. If it is impossible to conduct an independent investigation and a fair trial on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, we consider it necessary to create a special international tribunal for the events of August 2020 in Belarus and conduct a public investigation of all the crimes.

We consider it unacceptable for the Russian Federation to recognise the elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus and the official results of these elections as legitimate. We consider it impossible to sign with Alexander Lukashenko any interstate documents regulating relations between our countries.

We believe that the President of Russia had to mediate in the negotiations on recognition by Alexander Lukashenko of his defeat in the elections, his resignation of his powers and the transfer of power to the legally elected President of the Republic of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

This task remains urgent. The establishment of civil peace and the restoration of the rule of law in Belarus are impossible without its implementation.

We demand from the federal bodies of state power of Russia public guarantees of unconditional legal protection for all Russian citizens who have suffered from violence in Belarus, and immediate action to release them.

We call on all politicians and ordinary citizens of Russia to show maximum solidarity with the citizens of Belarus.

Belarus will be free.

Russia will be free.

Deputies of regional legislative assemblies of the Russian Federation

The Moscow City Duma: Yevgeny Bunimovich (Yabloko), Daria Besedina (Yabloko), Maxim Kruglov (Yabloko), Sergei Mitrokhin (Yabloko), Mikhail Timonov

Законодательное собрание Санкт-Петербурга: Максим Резник, Борис Вишневский («Яблоко»)

The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg: Maxim Reznik, Boris Vishnevsky (Yabloko)

The Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia: Ivan Gusev (Yabloko), Emilia Slabunova (Yabloko)

The Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies: Artur Gaiduk (Yabloko), Lev Shlosberg (Yabloko)

The Astrakhan Regional Duma: Dmitry Anufriyev (Yabloko)