“Over the past two years I have held hundreds of meetings, and at each of them I brought up the issue of releasing political prisoners, stopping torture, repression, or at least improving conditions in prisons. Through the UN and the Red Cross we have been trying to save the lives of those in bad physical condition. At every meeting I have been talking about assistance to the lawyers and families of political prisoners. Hundreds of them have godparents among politicians who keep the world from forgetting those in prison.
Let me remind you that Siarhei Tsikhanouski is a political prisoner as well. My husband and loved one, the father of my children. For three years now, I could only maintain contact with him through lawyers. In our team, many people have their closest relatives, not to mention friends and acquaintances, behind bars on political grounds. Everyone on the team has their own personal motivation to free political prisoners as soon as possible. So neither politically nor emotionally can I understand what people mean when they say “the Office is sabotaging the release of political prisoners.”
Every time I hear criticism, I want to use it to improve my work. But now I can’t hear proposals: what should we do? Are you proposing to start trading people? Then voice it: whom exactly? How? Where? On what terms? In what order? Against what guarantees? What should we do to prevent escalation? Should we exchange political prisoners for sanctions relief? Should we do it to, in fact, convince the West to lift the sanctions that were imposed in response to the violation of international law and the threat to their interests: the hijacking of the plane, the migration crisis, involvement in military aggression?
The regime is perfectly aware that releasing political prisoners and pulling back from the war may prevent further sanctions or even lift some of the already imposed ones. After all, it is not the Office, Belarusians, or Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who impose these sanctions – but the EU countries, the US, and others – in response to the regime's crimes. And despite this, the regime only keeps cracking down on the society, destroying fates, and driving people into poverty.
Another critical issue in this discussion is that after people are released, new hostages must not be taken. This is exactly what is happening right now. We need to consistently demand the release of everyone. But stopping new arrests and releasing at least some people could be a signal that the regime is ready to change its line and start a dialogue.
The release of political prisoners has always been a priority for me and my team, and I am ready to consider every specific proposal on how exactly we can do this. I am open to a public discussion on this, so that together we can agree or challenge the proposed plan.”
