Sergei Tikhanovsky, the husband of Belarus’ opposition chief, has known as on US President Donald Trump to “simply say the phrase” and ask for all political prisoners in Belarus to be launched.
The opposition activist was freed unexpectedly on Saturday and reunited along with his spouse in Lithuania. 13 different political prisoners had been additionally launched and compelled into exile.
The transfer got here as US particular envoy Keith Kellogg travelled to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, and met the nation’s authoritarian chief Alexander Lukashenko.
It was the primary high-profile American go to in a few years.
In an emotional press convention the day after his launch, Tikhanovsky broke down in tears as he described his 5 years in solitary confinement and known as for the liberty of greater than 1,000 political prisoners nonetheless behind bars.
He was arrested in 2020 as he deliberate to run for president towards Lukashenko in that summer time’s elections.
He was jailed for 18 years in 2021 after a court docket convicted him of rallying mass protests towards Lukashenko, amongst different politically motivated costs.
As a distinguished opposition determine, Tikhanovsky stated he had been held in what he described because the “strictest doable regime”, lower off from all contact with the surface world.
“You do not even get letters, not a single name. For 5 years, I could not even go to confession with a priest. No letters, no calls, no priest, no lawyer,” he stated.
Then he started to sob.
“It is a nightmare,” he stated. “You ask about torture. Is that not torture? Murderers get to look at TV in jail, they’ve every thing. However I did not even get letters. Or cleaning soap. Or a toothbrush.”
He has barely spoken to anybody however jail guards for years and on Sunday typically struggled for phrases.
“How can they try this? You [the regime] contemplate us criminals. However we have now rights,” he stated.
“It is inhuman. It is a nightmare. They should cease this. We’ve got to get folks out.”
He known as on the US president for extra assist.
“Trump has such energy and such prospects, that with one phrase he might free all political prisoners. I ask him to say that phrase now,” he added.
His spouse, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, wiped away her personal tears as he spoke. Earlier she had known as him her “private hero”.
She additionally described how their daughter hadn’t recognised her father as a result of he had modified a lot in jail and misplaced a variety of weight.
She stated Lukashenko had obtained just one factor from the US administration in return for the prisoner launch on Saturday – the go to from US envoy Kellogg.
He can current that as a diplomatic breakthrough after years of political isolation for the repression of home dissent and for his help for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However Tikhanovsky stated what Belarus needs most is the elimination of US sanctions.
Earlier than his arrest, Tikhanovsky was a vibrant, outspoken determine who had a giant following in Belarus on social media.
The video blogger and activist used to name on folks to “cease the cockroach”, referring to Lukashenko, and would tour the nation to satisfy folks on the town squares and villages to listen to their considerations.
After his arrest in 2020, his spouse stepped in to run for president in his place within the August elections.
When Lukashenko declared one other landslide win, her supporters flooded the streets within the greatest protests Belarus has ever recognized.
They had been ruthlessly crushed, and Tikhanovskaya was compelled to flee the nation.
“The chief of the opposition is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, my spouse, and I do not make any declare to something,” Tikhanovsky clarified on Sunday, insisting that he had no intention of taking on management of the Belarusian opposition overseas.
Earlier, he had raised a fist of defiance.
“I need to say to all Belarusians – for those who had been ready for a logo, that is it,” he stated, urging them to face as much as Lukashenko.
He stated he regretted nothing he had performed – regardless of the therapy he obtained because of this.
However he added his launch from jail had saved his life, as a result of he wouldn’t have survived his full sentence behind bars in such circumstances.
Tons of of hundreds of Belarusians are estimated to have left their nation for the reason that brutal crackdown on widespread opposition protests in 2020.
Tens of hundreds of individuals have been arrested within the nation up to now 5 years for political causes, in keeping with human rights group Viasna.
