Vital Rymasheuski: “By persecuting priest Lazar the authorities want to intimidate the church”

Priest Uladzislau Lazar has been arrested by the KGB and is in the KGB remand prison in Minsk. He is accused of complicity in the state treason by alleged passing money and valuables to a person, who is charged with espionage for a foreign country.
What attitude should be paid to the criminal prosecution of priest Lazar in Belarus?

One of the BCD leaders, Vital Rymasheuski, states that the case against priest Lazar is caused by political motives:

"The regime in Belarus is considering the Christian church as a serious threat to its existence. It is an independent institution of the civil society, not controlled by the ideological machine and the repressive apparatus of the Belarusian authorities. Presenting charges to priest Lazar is amed at
intimidating the church and reducing its possible political and social activity before the election. This indicates a focused repressive policy against Christian communities. I shall remind about the desire of Lukashenka to reform the church. To reform means to repress – that's what he deals with. There is no doubt that the charges and the verdict to priest Lazar will be the same, as far as everybody knows who the courts depend on. It is also a defeat of the policy of the democratic countries towards Belarus and the democratic society in the country, as far as no reaction and defense was provided in Haidukou's case. As a result, Haidukou was imprisoned, now comes priest Lazar, and the number of such cases can increase by the time of the electoral campaign of 2015.”

Mr. Rymasheuski also called the prohibition of the nationwide march against abortions which was to have taken place on 21 September an “open spit” against Christian churches. The march was blessed by the heads of the Orthodox and Catholic churches – Metropolitans Filaret and Tadevush Kandrusevich.