Today’s “release” of political prisoners in exchange for sanctions against Belavia has caused quite a lot of mixed feelings. Yes, we are glad that our comrade Mikola Dziadok and many opposition politicians will no longer be subjected to constant torture within the so-called correctional system of Belarus. But at the same time, we remember the more than 1,300 prisoners who remain in prison on political charges. We remember the thousands of broken lives that will never receive justice through such deals. We remember those killed in prisons and during protests, whose lives will never be avenged until Lukashenko’s regime falls.
As a matter of fact, the former prisoners’ punishment has been only changed: from prison terms to indefinite exile to EU countries. Lukashenko’s regime is trying to get rid of not only the prisoners themselves, but also their families, children, and loved ones, who will be forced to leave Belarus after five years of fighting against prison.
Today we heard about the success of the exchange and that lifting sanctions on Belavia is in the interests of Belarusian society, but we forget that the unpunished continuation of repression against the whole of society will never be in the interests of liberation from dictatorship and enslavement. Many of us ignore the fact that the struggle for freedom continues in prison, and many of those who are currently imprisoned and refuse to sign a pardon want to remain in Belarus and continue the struggle. The story of Statkevich, who at the time of writing this text remains on the border between Belarus and Lithuania and categorically refuses to go to Vilnius, should be a lesson for us — our freedom in exile may be worse for some than continuing the struggle against Lukashenko’s regime in prison dungeons.
Tomorrow, we may indeed see the release of hundreds of prisoners in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against other state-owned enterprises, but let’s not forget that our main goal is the overthrow of the regime and the fall of the Russian empire, and even if all political prisoners are released, the struggle will continue until Lukashenko and Putin share the fate of Mussolini and Gaddafi.
