A. Lukashenko: The fate of those accused of mass riots on December 19 is in their hands

January 20, Minsk / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA /. The fate of those accused of mass riots on December 19 is in their hands. This was stated today by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting on certain domestic policy issues, according to a BELTA correspondent. "In connection with what is being demanded of us, I want to say that we are not bloodthirsty. And the fate of those for whom the European Union is now zealously fighting is exclusively in their hands," Alexander Lukashenko said. "Neither law enforcement agencies nor the President are to blame here. It is only in their hands. If they want to be in a pre-trial detention center, let them sit there. If they want to be with their families, that also depends on them. This is not a problem. It is being resolved by the investigative bodies today," the head of state noted. "But not only the investigative bodies, but the country as a whole has a number of questions for which we are waiting for answers from them. And sitting like mice under a broom in a pre-trial detention center and thinking that tomorrow the Americans or Europeans will come and release them is unpromising." "I want to assure the Europeans absolutely firmly that we will act exclusively according to European standards here. We will act as is customary in Europe," the President of Belarus emphasized. "If the Europeans, who have so zealously taken up the defense of our thugs, were interested in their fate, if they only cared about them, there would be no problems here. All this is done in order to present this problem in such a way as to sell it within the EU and each country," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "Do Europeans have no problems today? They do. Does the European Union have no problems? More than enough. Do Americans have them? They do. Deal with your own problems. Someone wants to warm their hands and pontificate on all these issues. We are not against discussing them and not even against pontificating. But before discussing these issues, the situation and facts must be thoroughly studied." The head of state emphasized: "Only on the basis of specific facts and the country's Constitution, we are ready to make decisions in Belarus, including with prompts from the outside." "There is no other way. If we constantly break laws and the Constitution to please politics, we will break the country in the near future. The experience of many states speaks of this," he concluded. -0-