Statkevich: People who came to Square today needed no shepherd

Former political prisoner Mikola Statkevich calls today's protest, which took place on the evening of 11 October at the Independence Avenue in Minsk, spontaneous and says that he respects the participants:

"Every citizen of Belarus has the right to protest and people realized it."

His inaction on election day the polititcian explains by the fact that the date of October 11 is no longer of interest for him, and he completed the protests the day before - on 10 October:

"I think this election to be a special operation, I think that it had no alternative candidates, only fictitious rivals, who attracted attention. And the fact that these people did not invite the citizens of Belarus to the Square to protect them from falsification, confirms my words."

Besides, says Statkevich, if the leaders of the opposition appeared at the square today, the authorities would have stated that the opposition gathered ​​70-150 people. "But I think the people who have gathered to express their position needed no shepherd. They themselves have coped," the politician said.