Alexander Lukashenka, the President of the Republic of Belarus, is in the Republic of Armenia on an official visit. He is often called “Europe’s last dictator.” Serzh Sargsyan, the President of the Republic of Armenia, and Alexander Lukashenka will attend the consecration of the newly-built St. John the Baptist Church in the town of Abovyan, Diocese of Kotayk. During a conversation with www.aravot.am, Tigran Ter-Yesayan, the director of Forum, a human rights center, urged us to inquire of Lukashenka when he was going to release people who had been imprisoned for advocating freedom of speech in Belarus, but he also stated, mocking, that we should ask after he left the church. Then he said: “Dictators and monarchs used to be more transparent. They would talk about their policies, but would not go to church. Now they are both dictators and believers abiding by the law and protecting human rights. That is the reason for everything.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
