Alexander Yaroshuk And Gennady Fedynich: The Main Business Of Our Life Is To Make Belarus Free

• 13.09.2025, 10:00

The union leaders talked about their experiences in prison and future plans.

The chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, vice-president of the International Trade Union Confederation, member of the Administrative Council of the International Labor Organization Alexandr Yaroshuk and the long-time head of the trade union of workers of the radio-electronic industry (REP) Gennady Fedynich became one of the political prisoners released the day before.

The two were arrested in 2022 and sentenced to different prison terms on trumped-up charges - Yaroshuk to 4 years, Fedynich to 9. They are now in Vilnius.

Today "Salidarnasts" spoke to them.

- How do you feel - physically, emotionally, psychologically?

- G.F. They can't wait!

- A.Y. We are glad we are free - first of all. And secondly, there is a lot of information coming at us now. Since we have been isolated from the information space for a long time, it will take some time to adapt.

We are now, in fact, taking only the first step to return to normal life.

- Do you have any idea what you will be doing next?

- A.Y. No answer yet. But you must realize that the most heinous thing that happened is that we were deprived of our passports. Until the last moment, until we crossed the border, we thought that everything was in order, that our passports were in place. But it turned out that they were not. And today we can't return to Belarus.

Apparently, the regime wanted very much to deprive us of the opportunity to return to the country. And this has greatly affected the mood, of course. But we have been and will continue to deal with this problem. And of course, we will think about our future activities.

You see, I had a month and 20 days left before the end of my sentence. I had set my mind on the fact that I would be released on November 1, in which case they would not have risked to take me straight to Lithuania, but here, as they call it, they killed two birds with one stone: they got some bonuses from the United States and at the same time burned bridges for us to return to Belarus.

- G.F. Neither the EU nor the U.S. even suspected that there could be such a situation with passports. It was a complete shock for everyone.

- A.Y. I was deprived not only of my passport, but also of many things. And most importantly - all the letters from my family and friends.

They are very valuable and dear to me, their receipt was one of the most important motivations that allowed me to survive in prison. But no, it was necessary to do such a small thing.

Where the letters are now, of course, I do not know - maybe they were thrown out or will be kept, or some museum will be opened, and the people involved will be rewarded once again for having neutralized such dangerous criminals as Gennady and I.

- Did you get any information about what was going on in the country in prison?

- G.F. Only through Belarusian and Russian TV channels, pro-governmental ones, of course, and newspapers - you could read something between the lines there.

- A.Ya. As for me, out of three and a half years I spent three years in prison and six months in the colony. And prison is a place that sucks all the vital energy out of you. And no information but officialdom. So we had some idea, and then we analyzed it ourselves.

- G.F. Conversations with relatives gave some information that could not be read or heard. Or other prisoners shared information they heard from their relatives.

- A.Ya. If we talk, for example, about correspondence with the family, censorship was rampant: very often they brought acts of destruction of either the letters of relatives or your letters - for any words they did not like. So I made a conclusion for myself that I should position myself only in a positive way, as if I were not in prison, and I tried to completely abstract myself from the prison environment. And it helped me.

And I advised other political prisoners to do the same, especially young guys. And there were many of them. And if earlier a political prisoner had to be alone in a cell and no other political prisoners were placed there, then later there were not enough places, and now there can be two or three political prisoners in one cell.

- G.F. And one more thing about information. At some point, prison administrations began to take an interest in what books political prisoners were interested in, what they were reading.

And these books were simply removed from the library collections. And they didn't even know what these books were about, they just removed them by their titles.

- A.Ya. Well, it was such a witch hunt. Since the Anglo-Saxons are the number one enemy in Belarus today, it means that the languages they speak are also enemy languages. That's why books in English were confiscated.

One of my friends studied German, but this textbook was taken away. So he said to me - it was good that I had time to rewrite half a textbook, so now at least I can learn the language this way.

- And how did you develop relations with people who committed real criminal offenses?

- A.Ya. We tried to organize some provocations, but mostly they were attracted to us, they singled us out among all other prisoners and tried in every possible way to build some kind of relationship with us.

And we valued it, because we still influenced with our lives and our actions on the consciousness of these people, who drew some conclusions from their tragic experience and wanted to become normal people.

- G.F. After a while, both Alexander and I began to be called by our patronymic, and you have to earn it, they will not call you that in these places. When they call you only by your patronymic, it means that you are an extraordinary person, so to speak.

I was even once called by the head of the operational department to get acquainted. And he asked me - what are you going to do here? I said - if you give me an order, I can create a trade union organization. He waved his hands - what are you, what are you! I said - I was joking.

- A.Ya. And, by the way, it is also psychological support when they call you "you" and by your patronymic. And if someone had a dispute, I was told - Ilyich, judge.

- What was the most difficult thing for you in prison? I understand that everything is difficult, but maybe at some point in time it was particularly hard?

- G.F. For me such a moment came when letters from my granddaughter stopped coming. They did not let them through on purpose, just to put psychological pressure on me.

-I tolerated it for a while, then I went to the administration and said that if I continue not to receive letters from my granddaughter, then my relatives will go to the prosecutor's office, and one of you will answer for it. And it worked.

- A.Ya. When I arrived at the colony in Shklou, where Vitold Ashurok had died shortly before, who was probably murdered, I was put in the SHIZO.

What it was like - it's hard for me to put into words. I think that the first night I will not survive - the cold is so cold that you can endure only 15 minutes lying down. And there is no blanket, they do not give it.

So you lie down for 15 minutes, then about 10 minutes squat and push-ups to warm up, again lie down for 15 minutes - and so all night. You run to the bathroom 20 times a night. In the morning I was bleeding and it got on the floor, for which I got a report, as well as for not sleeping.

And then I thought - fuck you all, and I just started singing songs in the cell. And they didn't say anything to me.

- G.F. Yes, we did, we talked to them, calmed them down.

- Will it be possible to see them? I have part of my family in Belarus, and how can I get there now, without a passport? My granddaughter has grown up, and she always writes to me at the end of her letters - Grandpa, I love you, you are strong, you will endure everything. One of my sons will soon come to Vilnius (a few hours after the interview the long-awaited meeting took place - S.), and the second son with his family lives in America.

I also have a granddaughter Milana, whom I miss. I hope to see you again.

- Was your release a complete surprise to you or were there some rumors?

- G.F. There were some rumors, but it was still unexpected. I was told in the zone that I was the most important political figure, so I could be released one of the first.

- A.Ya. Last year in July the prosecutor from Minsk came to see me and we talked for four hours. He was trying to get me to sign a petition for pardon.

I asked him - are you seriously suggesting me to sign a paper where I recognize Lukashenko as president, do you want me to redraw my life?

He was stunned and said - then nothing will work. I said - and I'm not asking you for anything.

I realized I was complicating my position, but that was my position, which I expressed. Like so much else during the four hour conversation.

Well, when I was given 15 minutes to pack a couple days ago. I assumed I was going to be kicked out of the country. Which, in fact, happened.

- G.F. However, we remained people and citizens of our country.

- A.Ya. And we can say today that we will definitely come back. For the main cause of our life - to make our Belarus free!