NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS FROM SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA AND THE DEMOCRATIC FORCES
On December 31, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, together with Maryia Kalesnikava, Pavel Sevyarynets, and Pavel Latushka, addressed Belarusians with New Year’s greetings: “If I could leave something in the past year, it would be empty quarrels, divisions, and grievances that pull us apart. The lies from TV screens, immoral war propaganda, hollow jingoistic patriotism, and the endless search for enemies. Arrests, dismissals, absurd bans, and so-called “law-making” that has nothing to do with the law. And into 2026, I will take those important things that we must continue”.
Watch the address on YouTube or read its transcript in English.
RELEASE OF 20 POLITICAL PRISONERS
On the eve of the New Year, December 30, another 20 political prisoners were released. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya made a statement: “I am sincerely happy for the 20 people and their families who, on the eve of the New Year, can be together again. These people should never have been behind bars. No forced ‘repentance’ or confession of guilt makes them guilty. ‘Pardon’ is only the first step. These individuals have been released after unlawful imprisonment, and now they need peace, time, and conditions to recover. None of the released must face new pressure or threats. Hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus. Among them are people with serious illnesses, elderly individuals, and parents of young children. Each of them awaits their chance to return home. Everyone must be released, and the repression must end”.
MEDIA
BelSAT (Belarus), Obychnoye Utro (Belarus), NZZ (Switzerland).
