During her working visit to Switzerland, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the husband of political prisoner Natallia Hersche, Robert Stäheli, and daughter Violetta.
During a warm meeting with Ms. Tsikhanouskaya, Mr. Stäheli said that his wife, a Swiss-Belarusian dual citizen, has always worried about Belarus. In September, Natallia came to Minsk because she could not stay away from Belarusians’ peaceful fight for their freedom. She was detained after the Women's Rally on September 19: she was imprisoned for ripping off a balaclava from a security officer. The regime accused Natallia Hersche of resisting a law enforcement officer (in an unmarked uniform) and sentenced her to 2.5 years in prison. During the court hearings, Natalia was dressed in white and red clothes as a symbol of resistance.
On February 22, Hersche went on a hunger strike for the second time. She ended the previous one when she was transferred to another cell and given all the letters sent to her. However, in February, Natallia was sent to another colony without having her relatives informed, and so she again stopped receiving letters. It's hard to get any information about Hersche right now.
It was not just a meeting of a political leader with a family that suffered from political repression but also a conversation, a gesture of support between the two people whose relatives have been held hostage by Lukashenka’s regime for a long time. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya promised that she would seek the release of Natallia Hersche and all political prisoners. This is a priority task for Ms. Tsikhanouskaya, who is well aware of this situation, as she has not seen her husband, Siarhei, for more than nine months. “Families should not be separated”, said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
The leader of democratic Belarus also expressed her gratitude to the Swiss government and the Swiss Ambassador to Minsk, Claude Altermatt, for their efforts aimed at the release of political prisoners in Belarus. Claude Altermatt not only attended Hersche’s court hearings but also visits Ms. Hersche in prison.
