Gigin: use of water cannons by Poles is punitive execution

A public investigation of crimes committed by the Polish side against refugees on the border has launched in Belarus – as informed by the Chairman of the Republican Znanie Belarusian Society, a Candidate of Historical Sciences and an Associate Professor, historian Vadim Gigin, in his talk with Alfa Radio

According to the expert, the investigation was initiated by the Republican Znanie [Knowledge] Belarusian Society, the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House and the Belarusian Union of Journalists.

“It was clear to any observer that the Polish authorities were committing crimes at the border. This is a consequence of the Polish and Lithuanian authorities’ actions. A need in an international investigation procedure aroused. It was necessary to do something, and our public proposed an idea," he said. 

According to Mr. Gigin, not dozens but hundreds of crimes have already been committed, “We recorded what happened the other day with the water cannons. That was a demonstrative and punitive execution, a reaction of the Polish authorities to Angela Merkel's call to Aleksandr Lukashenko. All these are acts of intimidation. We need to voice all the names, not only of Kaczynski, Duda and Morawiecki – but also to mention the colonels, lieutenant colonels, generals, majors and sergeants who are involved in the commission of these crimes.”

The historian called the refugee crisis fateful, “Cynicism and indifference to genuine human rights and democracy on the part of the West are visible as on a plate. Americans often say about Lukashenko and Putin that they are on the wrong side of history. We are on our own land, in our homeland. It is not for them [Americans] to determine this. On the other side there are liars, petty politicians who do not reach the level of Lukashenko and Putin. They [western politicians] consider us second-class people. Belarus, Russia, Turkey and China are sovereign countries, they are being revived. That's why they are so disliked: there is an understanding that they [the West] are of a different sort,” Mr. Gigin concluded.