Łukašenka bashes IT people over protests

November 17, BPN. The government cannot allow another wave of protests to come from IT professionals or entrepreneurs, Alaksandr Łukašenka said at the November 17 meeting discussing the future of Belarus’ Hi-Tech Park (HTP).

“You see that as a person responsible for the security of our state and the stability of our society, I cannot allow another wave to come from IT professionals, entrepreneurs and so on,” Łukašenka said, as quoted by his press office.

The country’s leader said that during mass protests, HTP employees “did not show themselves, to put it mildly, in the best way.”

“This is partly our fault,” Łukašenka continued. He said that in 2020, the authorities had reports of a plan to use HTP people as a driving force for the supposed coup. “I confess that neither I nor the security services paid due attention to that,” he said.

At the same time, he said today it would be wrong to abandon HTP and not support it.