"The film "Goddad" shown on the Russian TV channel NTV makes me even more convinced that such crimes could not be committed without the participation of senior officials", said the former leader of the country, chairman of the Supreme Council of the 12th convocation Stanislau Shushkevich at the press conference on 16 July in Minsk.
It should be reminded that the film is about high-profile political disappearances that took place in Belarus in 1999—2000. At that time the former Minister of the Interior Yury Zakharanka, the Vice-speaker of the Supreme Council of the 13th convocation Viktar Hanchar, his friend, businessman Anatol Krasouski, and the camera operator of the ORT channel Dzmitry Zavadsky got missing. The film "Goddad" states that senior officials of Belarus, including Alyaxandr Lukashenka himself, may have been privy to these disappearances.
Stanislau Shushkevich notes that after the recent deterioration of Belarus–Russia relations, "pro-regime spin doctors" started to cultivate "anti-Russia moods" in Belarus. Despite this, the ex-speaker believes that Belarus and Russia cannot be enemies, as the two peoples "are destined to be neighbours".
The second idea used actively by state propagandists is that only Lukashenka can be a guarantor of the independence of Belarus. "A person who does not know the Belarusian culture and history, who is against the Belarusian language and supports only those who cringe before him, cannot be a guarantor of independence. Belarus is not independent. It is dependent upon such people under whose rule it is disgusting to be", said Mr. Shushkevich. "Some time ago the Ukrainians declared: "We don’t want to be cattle!" And we are also not cattle. Such a person as Lukashenka cannot lead us to real independence".
