Launched Belarusian dissident Tsikhanouski vows to battle on : NPR

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Siarhei Tsikhanouski is nearly unrecognizable. Belarus’ key opposition determine, imprisoned in 2020 and unexpectedly launched on Saturday, as soon as weighed 135 kilograms (298 kilos) at 1.92 meters (almost 6’4″) tall, however now could be at simply 79 kilos (174 kilos).

On Saturday, Tsikhnaouski was freed alongside 13 different prisoners and dropped at Vilnius, the capital of neighboring Lithuania, the place he was reunited together with his spouse, exiled Belarusian opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and their kids. Chatting with The Related Press the day after, Tsikhanouski tries to smile and joke, however struggles to carry again heavy sighs recalling what he endured behind bars.

“That is undoubtedly torture,” Tsikhanouski advised The Related Press within the first sit-down interview since his launch. Jail officers “saved telling me: ‘You can be right here not only for the 20 years we have already given you.’ We are going to convict you once more,'” he mentioned. “They advised me that ‘You’ll by no means get out.’ They usually saved repeating: ‘You’ll die right here.'”

One in every of Belarus’s most distinguished opposition figures, Tsikhanouski mentioned he “virtually forgot how one can converse” throughout his years in solitary confinement. He was held in full isolation, denied medical care, and given barely sufficient meals.

“If you happen to had seen me after they threw solely two spoons of porridge onto my plate, two small spoons …” he mentioned, including that he could not purchase something something within the jail kiosk. “They might generally give me somewhat tube of toothpaste, somewhat piece of cleaning soap as charity. Generally they’d, generally they would not.”

A distinguished voice of dissent

Now 46, Tsikhanouski, a preferred blogger and activist, was freed simply hours after Belarusian authorities introduced that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko met with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine within the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Keith Kellogg grew to become the highest-ranking U.S. official in years to go to Belarus, Moscow’s shut and dependent ally.

Tsikhanouski, identified for his anti-Lukashenko slogan “cease the cockroach,” was arrested after saying plans to problem the strongman within the 2020 election and shortly earlier than the marketing campaign started. He was sentenced to 19 years and 6 months on fees extensively seen as politically motivated. His spouse ran in his stead, rallying crowds throughout the nation. Official outcomes handed Lukashenko his sixth time period in workplace however have been denounced by the opposition and the West as a sham.

Lukashenko has since tightened his grip, securing a seventh time period in disputed January 2025 elections. Since mid-2024, his authorities has pardoned almost 300 prisoners — together with U.S. residents — in what analysts see as an try to fix ties with the West.

Tsikhanouski credited U.S. President Donald Trump with aiding his launch.

“I thank Donald Trump endlessly,” Tsikhanouski mentioned. “They (the Belarusian authorities) need Trump to not less than, somewhat bit, someplace, to satisfy them midway. They’re able to launch all of them. All of them!”

Many are nonetheless behind bars

Tens of 1000’s of individuals poured into the streets within the aftermath of the August 2020 vote. Hundreds have been detained, many overwhelmed by police. Outstanding opposition figures both fled the nation or have been imprisoned.

Not less than 1,177 political prisoners stay in custody, in keeping with Viasna, the oldest and most distinguished human rights group in Belarus. Amongst them is Viasna’s founder, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ales Bialiatski.

Additionally behind bars are Viktor Babaryka, a former banker who was extensively seen in 2020 as Lukashenko’s foremost elecoral rival, and Maria Kolesnikova, an in depth ally of Tsikhanouskaya and charismatic chief of that yr’s mass protests.

A shock launch and an emotional reunion

Tsikhanouski referred to as his launch “a dream that is nonetheless arduous to imagine.” On Saturday, he mentioned, guards eliminated him from a KGB pretrial detention middle, put a black bag over his head, and handcuffed him earlier than transporting him in a minibus. He and different prisoners had no concept the place they have been going.

“To be trustworthy, I nonetheless cannot imagine it. I used to be afraid I would get up and every little thing would nonetheless be the identical. I do not imagine it, I nonetheless do not imagine it,” he mentioned, pausing continuously and wiping away tears.

Tsikhanouski’s kids — his daughter, aged 9, and 15-year-old son — did not acknowledge him after they have been reunited.

“We got here in and my spouse mentioned to my daughter, ‘Your dad has arrived,'” he mentioned, crying. “At first she could not perceive, after which she rushed in — she was crying, I used to be crying … for a really very long time. My son too! These are feelings that can’t be described.”

Tsikhanouski, who says his well being has deteriorated behind bars, plans to bear a medical examination in Lithuania. He says chilly and starvation have been “the principle causes of sickness” that affected almost all political prisoners in Belarus, who have been subjected to “particularly harsh circumstances.”

“There have been pores and skin ailments, and everybody had kidney issues from the chilly — and nobody actually understood what was occurring,” Tsikhanouski mentioned. “Blood got here out of my mouth, from my nostril. Generally I had convulsions — but it surely was all due to the chilly, that horrible chilly whenever you sit in these punishment cells.”

“There is no such thing as a medical care in jail — none in any respect, simply so you understand …” he mentioned.

Tsikhanouski mentioned circumstances barely improved after the February 2024 demise of Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny in a jail colony.

“When Alexei Navalny died, I assumed, that’ll in all probability be me quickly … After which one thing modified. It was clear that somebody on the high mentioned, ‘Be certain that he does not die right here. We do not want that drawback.’ It received only a bit softer … Sooner or later, phrase got here down: Tsikhanouski have to be saved alive, not killed.”

Pointing the finger at Putin

Tsikhanouski blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for propping up Lukashenko, each throughout the 2020 protests and to at the present time.

Russia helps Belarus’s economic system with loans and backed oil and gasoline. In return, Belarus has allowed Moscow to make use of its territory to launch troops and weapons into Ukraine, and hosts Russian forces and nuclear weapons.

Tsikhanouski expressed sturdy assist for Ukraine, calling the Kremlin a typical evil for each nations.

“If it weren’t for Putin, we might already be residing in a unique nation. Putin acknowledged Lukashenko’s victory within the election, he referred to as black white. That’s, he refused to see the falsifications,” Tsikhanouski mentioned. “They assist one another. Due to Putin, this unlawful authorities continues to be in Belarus.”

Some analysts have speculated that by releasing the charismatic and energetic Tsikhanouski, Belarusian authorities could also be attempting to sow division throughout the opposition. However Tsikhanouski insists he has no intention of difficult his spouse’s function because the internationally acknowledged head of the Belarusian opposition, and he requires unity.

“In no way do I plan to criticize any Belarusians, condemn or complain about anybody,” he mentioned.

Tsikhanouski says he is not going to cease preventing and needs to return to energetic work as each a political determine and a blogger. However he’s skeptical that Lukashenko, now 70, will step down voluntarily, regardless of his age.

“I do not know anymore — will he go or will not he?” Tsikhanouski mentioned. “Many individuals say nothing will change till he dies. However I am nonetheless relying on democratic forces successful.”