Why Did Lukashenka Reward Security Forces Officials For Plane Blown Up In Machulishchy?
- 10.03.2023, 17:18
An ex-official explains.
On March 9, Lukashenka signed the law "On changing the codes on criminal liability", which, in particular, introduces the death penalty for officials for treason against the state.
Why is it needed: is it preparation for war or is it just paranoia? Why did the dictator reward the security forces officials for blowing up the plane in Machulishchy? What atmosphere prevails in bureaucratic circles?
For an answer to these questions, the Charter97.org website turned to Anatol Kotau, a former employee of Lukashenka's administration and management of affairs:
— Why did Lukashenka decide to introduce the death penalty for "treason" for officials?
— At a minimum, this is just intimidation of their apparatus, both civilian and security forces. Now, for everything that can be regarded as treason, and this is a very loose concept, the punishment is up to and including the death penalty. This is a mechanism for ensuring unlimited loyalty.
— How can one explain the awarding of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Kubrakou, the head of the border service Lappo and the head of the KGB Tsiartel for damaging a Russian plane. Why wasn't Defense Minister Khrenin awarded then?
— This is just an entertaining story, to which many authoritarian regimes come at the end of their existence, when those responsible for something are not punished, but rewarded. When from those who missed something, they make heroes who later dealt with the consequences. A fairly short, virtually absent, bench shows us that there is no one to replace them, but it was necessary to react somehow. One of these tricks is to change the polarity of the reaction from minus to plus.
Making a hero out of a loser is a tradition that took place in Soviet times, especially in the army. The comrades who committed some serious accident were not held accountable, but were simply awarded as heroically struggling with its consequences. Here, probably, we have the same practice, because there is no one to replace this trinity, so they had to be rewarded. Khrenin gets out of this story, because he, in general, did not catch “terrorists”.
— How would you characterize the atmosphere that now reigns in bureaucratic circles?
— It's hard enough to do that. I would say that the atmosphere that prevails there is close to humility and fatalism. That is, those comrades cannot influence anything there, they cannot make any decision, top officials cannot leave the system either. Therefore, they go with the flow and wait for what the next day will bring: a reward — so let it be a reward; going to war — so let it be so; prison — okay, let's go to prison.