Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08MINSK148
2008-02-28 16:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:
KOZULIN EXTENDS HAND TO LUKASHENKO IN WEB CHAT
how-toVZCZCXRO9936 PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHSK #0148 0591600 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 281600Z FEB 08 FM AMEMBASSY MINSK TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6963 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1854 RUEHBS/USMISSION USEU 0292 RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 000148
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR BO
SUBJECT: KOZULIN EXTENDS HAND TO LUKASHENKO IN WEB CHAT
REF: MINSK 145 (AND PREVIOUS)
Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reason 1.4 (b/d).
Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 000148
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR BO
SUBJECT: KOZULIN EXTENDS HAND TO LUKASHENKO IN WEB CHAT
REF: MINSK 145 (AND PREVIOUS)
Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reason 1.4 (b/d).
Summary
--------------
1. (SBU) One day after his wife's funeral, political
prisoner and former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin
offered an olive branch of forgiveness to Aleksandr
Lukashenko, "for the good of the country." Kozulin is in the
final hours of a three-day furlough that was approved to
facilitate his participation in the funeral. Regime sources
claim that a decision on Kozulin's future is still being
debated. End summary.
Kozulin Prepared to Forgive, Forget
--------------
2. (U) On the final day of a three-day furlough to take part
in his wife's funeral (reftel),political prisoner Aleksandr
Kozulin took part in a web chat hosted by "Belorusskiye
Novosti" (www.naviny.by). Kozulin, touched by the powerful
emotions of the past few days, struck a moral and an almost
theological tone in offering his hand to Aleksandr
Lukashenko. Kozulin said, "We all walk beneath the Lord God.
And today, especially today, after the past two days, when I
absorbed all the love, all the pain, all the human sorrow
into my very self, I can say that I forgive Lukashenko
everything." Later in the discussion, Kozulin explained that
he extended his hand to Lukashenko with his whole heart, with
pure intentions and for the common good of Belarus.
Kozulin's Fate Remains to be Determined
--------------
3. (C) Just an hour before this web chat, Presidential
Administration Foreign Policy Advisor Valentin Rybakov told
Ambassador that the GOB was still considering Kozulin's fate
and had yet to take a definitive position.
Comment
--------------
4. (SBU) Persons close to the regime, including members of
Lukashenko's amen-chamber National Assembly, have said
recently that the Department's call for Kozulin's release
must be taken seriously. Kozulin's conciliatory words today
give the regime just one more reason to do so.
STEWART
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR BO
SUBJECT: KOZULIN EXTENDS HAND TO LUKASHENKO IN WEB CHAT
REF: MINSK 145 (AND PREVIOUS)
Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reason 1.4 (b/d).
Summary
--------------
1. (SBU) One day after his wife's funeral, political
prisoner and former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin
offered an olive branch of forgiveness to Aleksandr
Lukashenko, "for the good of the country." Kozulin is in the
final hours of a three-day furlough that was approved to
facilitate his participation in the funeral. Regime sources
claim that a decision on Kozulin's future is still being
debated. End summary.
Kozulin Prepared to Forgive, Forget
--------------
2. (U) On the final day of a three-day furlough to take part
in his wife's funeral (reftel),political prisoner Aleksandr
Kozulin took part in a web chat hosted by "Belorusskiye
Novosti" (www.naviny.by). Kozulin, touched by the powerful
emotions of the past few days, struck a moral and an almost
theological tone in offering his hand to Aleksandr
Lukashenko. Kozulin said, "We all walk beneath the Lord God.
And today, especially today, after the past two days, when I
absorbed all the love, all the pain, all the human sorrow
into my very self, I can say that I forgive Lukashenko
everything." Later in the discussion, Kozulin explained that
he extended his hand to Lukashenko with his whole heart, with
pure intentions and for the common good of Belarus.
Kozulin's Fate Remains to be Determined
--------------
3. (C) Just an hour before this web chat, Presidential
Administration Foreign Policy Advisor Valentin Rybakov told
Ambassador that the GOB was still considering Kozulin's fate
and had yet to take a definitive position.
Comment
--------------
4. (SBU) Persons close to the regime, including members of
Lukashenko's amen-chamber National Assembly, have said
recently that the Department's call for Kozulin's release
must be taken seriously. Kozulin's conciliatory words today
give the regime just one more reason to do so.
STEWART