At the LAMPA Festival in Cēsis, Latvia, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya joined a discussion panel “18-” with local youth. The teenagers asked a variety of questions, ranging from Belarus’ political issues to life advice that the Belarusian leader could offer.
The youth were particularly interested in hearing about dictatorship. They wondered what it is and how people feel living under such a political system. Here are Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s answers:
📌 “For young people who live in democratic countries and enjoy freedom every day, it is hard to imagine what a dictatorship is because you don’t have that experience. In short, living in a dictatorship means living in a state of constant fear”.
📌 “Living in a dictatorship means living in an atmosphere of perpetual terror. You can’t relax for a moment, even at home. At 6 in the morning, someone might knock on your door. People in balaclavas will burst into your apartment, twist your arms right before your children’s eyes, and abduct you, while your relatives will search for you day after day, not knowing in which prison you are kept”.
📌 “Living in a dictatorship means that when you go to work, you take a special bag with you, with extra socks, a toothbrush, and toilet paper because you might be detained right on the street”.
📌 “When you live in a dictatorship, neither a lawyer nor relatives can visit you. You are left alone in prison. You can be given 5, 10, 15, or even 20 years of imprisonment for nothing, be fined a huge amount, and have your property confiscated”.
📌 “When you live in a dictatorship, you might be detained for speaking Belarusian or get five years in prison for a 5-euro donation. Any solidarity and support for prisoners and their families is also criminalized”.
📌 “It might be hard for you to understand what a dictatorship is, but imagine that it’s equally hard for Belarusians to understand what democracy is. They have never lived in one. Show Belarusians true democracy, let them get visas, and don’t close the borders for them, leaving them in hopeless terror”.
