It's A Matter Of Honor To Save Lieutenant Colonel Statkevich.
- 13.09.2025, 13:12
The officer retained remarkable fortitude.
Alexander Yaroshuk, a former leader of the independent trade union movement, called Shklou colony No. 17, where he served his sentence, a torture factory.
According to the stories of other former political prisoners who participated in the September 12 press conference in Vilnius, the entire penitentiary system of Alexander Lukashenko's regime can be called a torture factory. In any case, political opponents are given hell there.
Many of those released from behind bars on September 11 are hard to recognize: sharply aged, gaunt. Others resemble the prisoners of Buchenwald. It's hard to even hear about the abuse most of them endured, and what it was like to endure it all!
But what amazes is their fortitude. The same Yaroshuk said about the masked law enforcers: "So who are the masters in the country? If they are, what are they so afraid of? They know that sooner or later they will have to answer for everything. <�...> We will come to Belarus, because we are the real masters."
The regime is despicable even in small things
According to Nikolai Dedok, blogger, journalist and anarchist activist, "the world simply does not yet realize the scale of what is happening in Belarus, the human rights violations, abuse, violence of all kinds - psychological, physical, sexual."
The survivors of the hell told how the "yellow-browns" (that's how they label "extremists," i.e. those imprisoned for politics) were persecuted.
After far-fetched accusations, they are thrown into a punitive isolation cell, where people literally howl from the cold, deprived of visits with their relatives, cut back on otovarka (the opportunity to buy food in a prison stall). Finally, they get added sentences for allegedly disobeying the administration.
"If people from the civilized world saw what a punitive isolator is like, they would think they were in the Middle Ages," Dedok said.
The former editor-in-chief of the "Regiyanalnaia Gazeta" Alexandr Mantsevich called for facilitating the release of 70-year-old Vaclav Oreshko, a trade union activist who has almost lost his sight in the colony: "When you lead him by the hand to the canteen, he asks: "Is the sun in the sky today or not?" <�...> At night, he gets up for his needs and hurries down the long corridor - stumbling, falling, bleeding from him."
The abuse continued until the last moment, while the torturers still had power over those whom Lukashenko decided to sell to Donald Trump for parts for his Boeing.
At least 13 people from the group released yesterday were not given passports (they are kept in a personnel file during imprisonment). And Dedok's passport was defiantly torn up.
Of course, Lithuania still accepted these hostages taken by American diplomats (as Trump called the Belarusian politicians).
But the fact is that the regime is despicable even in small things. And it is obvious that among the law enforcers and prison guards there are real punishers, sadists, for whom there is no forgiveness. In the system created by Lukashenko, such people have been given carte blanche to massacre those who rebelled against the autocrat.
Deportation - another violence
The sermons heard at the press conference once again emphasized the problem of deportation. Some of those deported abroad would have preferred to stay in their homeland, but they were left with no choice.
Lukashenko has repeatedly stated that he is ready to give all political prisoners (he himself, of course, does not pronounce this word) to the Americans, provided that these "bandits" have no place in the country.
Why did he choose such a method? First of all, there is probably a fear that others will try to muddy the waters again. Secondly, there is a calculation that charismatic figures, having got into the emigrant environment, will start conflicts there, compete for leadership and resources.
Finally, thirdly, it is a desire to prolong the torment of enemies - let them gnaw at their homes and loved ones (not everyone has the opportunity to reunite with their families). And in this, too, the meanness and vindictiveness of the regime manifests itself.
All released political prisoners should have the right to leave or stay, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said at a press conference.
She said that she had talked about this with American partners the day before: "We seek that at the next release this anti-human practice be stopped. We also seek that the releases be accompanied by an end to repression."
The second task seems to be hellishly difficult. Lukashenko probably has no idea how to hold power after 2020 without batons and handcuffs. If you stop this torture factory, the people will quickly raise their heads, and then it won't be long before they chant "go away!" as they did in 2020.
Will Trump find a way to deal with his new Minsk "buddy"? And will he want to do so?
Save Lt. Col. Statkevich
A separate dramatic story is the fate of opposition veteran Nikolai Statkevich. He refused to be deported: with the words "I'll fight some more," he kicked down the door of the bus, stayed on the neutral strip, and then was taken to Belarus by masked men.
Sergei Sparysh, a former activist of the Narodnaya Gramada party and an associate of Statkevich, told a news conference about his health problems: "He spent two years and seven months in solitary confinement - this is essentially murder."
Sparysh called for Statkevich to be pushed to remain free. Tihanovska said she had already asked her American partners to inquire about his fate. According to his wife Marina Adamovich, Nikolai is not at home.
Statkevich's case is a challenge for Lukashenko. On the one hand, for such a rebellion, he probably wants to twist the stroppy into a ram's horn. And other "bachebeshniki" will cheer up, if this is given free rein. So every "pardoned" will start demanding to stay in the country!
On the other hand, of course, this story is under close international attention. If the Americans are principled, it would be dangerous to send Statkevich back to serve a 14-year sentence (which is completely illegal after a pardon) or to impose a new one: the whole bargaining with Trump could collapse.
This is truly a Shakespearean plot that is being spun in real time. According to Sparysh, the 69-year-old Statkevich, a former army officer weary from captivity, retains an amazing strength of spirit.
Yes, indeed, even in a seemingly alternative-free situation, this man of honor managed to make a heroic choice, to defy the system.
A banal pathos is called for, such as that such people will be legendary in the new Belarus. In fact, there is no need for legendizing. This is a real hero, a leader of the street struggle, who was not broken by long years of imprisonment (he got six years for Square 2010).
Americans saved Private Ryan in the film, now it's a matter of honor to save Lieutenant Colonel Statkevich.
Alexandr Klaskovsky, "Pozirk".