Tsikhanouski says his release gives people hope

One of the most well-known Belarusian political prisoners, blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, was released on June 21 following a visit to Belarus by Keith Kellogg, President Trump‘s special envoy for Ukraine.

Tsikhanouski gave his first big interview since being freed to DW’s Alexandra Boguslawskaja, who had also interviewed him five years ago in Belarus, shortly before his arrest.

Tsikhanouski was detained in May 2020, after being denied registration as a presidential candidate challenging Alexander Lukashenko and later convicted to 18 years in prison. His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, assumed the candidacy and ran for presidency in his stead. She was forced to flee Belarus after Lukashenko claimed victory in an election, which observers label as rigged.  Tsikhaniuskaya has been living in Vilnius ever since and became the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition in exile.

Deutsche Welle: The first footage we saw of you was of you getting off the bus and hugging your wife. What was it like to hug Svetlana after five years in prison?

Siarhei Tsikhanouski: I couldn’t believe it. I spent five years in a solitary confinement cell, sometimes it was three square meters, sometimes six, and sometimes even 18. And then, when you finally see open space around you, you’re overwhelmed by emotions. The doors of the bus opened and I saw Sviatlana. I couldn’t believe it and had tears in my eyes. I hugged her and said, “Let’s go somewhere.” We found a quiet spot to talk in private. Honestly, even now, I still can’t believe it. The emotions were so intense, the tears just kept coming.

This is your first big interview after the release but not your first DW interview. We spoke back in May 2020, just a couple of weeks before your arrest at a rally in Grodno, which led to a five-year prison sentence. Back then, I asked if you were prepared to face repression, and you said you were. But did you imagine it would be this harsh and this long?

The regime used to imprison people on supposedly non-political charges, things like alleged economic crimes. Since I’m a businessman, I thought they’d give me three or four years on some fake economic charges, and only after the elections.

But I never expected to scare them so much by pushing for real change. Once they realized that, they decided to lock me up preemptively, silence and badmouth me, and keep me behind bars. 

What’s it like to spend five years in solitary confinement?

Imagine not being able to talk to anyone — literally no one. Not hearing a single kind word from anyone because all you ever hear are insults, threats and negativity from the guards. They try to convince you that you’re nobody, that you’ve been forgotten, that everyone has given up, and no one is fighting for you anymore. But I didn’t believe them. I knew that many Belarusians supported me — I had seen that support on the streets with my own eyes.

Thinking about my family was hard because I had no information about them.

I had the chance to read books, and I read constantly. It helped me take my mind off everything as I waited for the day I’d be freed. I knew that day would come.

At the press conference after your release, you said that all US President Trump has to do is say one word and all political prisoners in Belarus would be freed. What is that word?

Well, of course, it’s a metaphor. The US administration has been preparing for the release of Belarusian political prisoners for a few years. The groundwork has been laid — I’ve heard this partly from diplomats involved in our release and from other sources.

The prosecutor visited me in prison last year, during the Biden administration. So the preparations were already underway, but under Donald Trump, this effort really picked up pace.

The thing is, Trump was planning to resolve the Ukraine issue quickly, which would lead to lifting sanctions on Russia. Since Belarus and Russia are part of a Union State, if the sanctions on Russia were lifted, the Lukashenko regime would automatically gain full access to all opportunities — so sanctions on Belarus would have to be lifted, too. And if that happens, the political prisoners would have to be released as well.

But why did Trump succeed in securing the release of political prisoners while European leaders didn’t?

It’s not about Trump personally. It’s about the big politics where everything is connected and you can’t just solve the issue of Belarusian political prisoners alone. It’s definitely an important issue, but it’s not as big as the war in Ukraine. That’s a nightmare, a tragedy for all of Europe. 

I think European officials and diplomats are doing the right thing by ignoring the regime. As long as political prisoners remain behind bars, there should be no dialogue with it.

How did you find out about the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and what did you think about it?

At that time, I was still in pre-trial detention. My lawyers were visiting me, and I had newspaper subscriptions, so I found out right away. I couldn’t believe it. I still don’t understand how Putin, how the Russians, could invade another country under the pretext that some Russians in Ukraine or the Russian language were under threat. If you really believe Russians are being mistreated, then bring them to your country. Build homes for them, give them pensions. Why kill so many people?

After that, I stopped receiving any information at all, so I really don’t know what’s been going on. Now, I’m just beginning to take it all in and try to understand it.

But one thing is clear to me: I fully support President Zelenskyy. He’s facing an incredibly difficult situation, and we all need to stand behind him — even if he makes a mistake here and there.

Over these five years, your wife went from being an ordinary Belarusian woman to a real political figure. People even call her the president-elect. How do you feel about that transformation? Do you feel like you have to get to know your wife all over again now?

No, I didn’t have to get to know her all over again. But honestly, I was surprised at how much she changed. She became such a businesslike woman — she wasn’t a business lady before. But now she’s so professional and driven. But at home, nothing has really changed. With the kids and with me, it’s the same. The only difference is she’s just completely exhausted all the time.

Do you think your release could give a fresh boost to the democratic movement? Maybe give Belarusians a bit of hope?

It’s not just that it could — it will. Absolutely, it will. I think very soon you’ll see us in many cities in Germany and in other European capitals as well. As for me personally — you’ll definitely see me on livestreams.

Do you have any regrets after spending five years behind bars?

Not at all. I asked my wife the same question, and despite everything we’ve been through, she said she doesn’t regret anything either. We couldn’t have done it any other way. She had to submit documents as a presidential candidate in my stead. And then she couldn’t help but fight for me, once her husband was thrown in prison for nothing. She knew I wasn’t a criminal, and not fighting wasn’t an option.

This interview was originally recorded in Russian.