00:00Let's turn the page and go to another chapter, remind you of all the events in Belarus over the past 24 hours.
00:08The country's dictator, President Alexander Lukashenko, released 14 political prisoners on Saturday
00:12after a rare visit to Belarus from U.S.-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg.
00:17The most prominent of those was dissident Sergei Tsikhanovsky, the husband of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya.
00:24The video blogger turned presidential hopeful was arrested back in 2020 before he could run against Lukashenko.
00:31Svetlana then ran in his place, sparking gigantic protests and a brutal crackdown that left hundreds jailed and Belarus diplomatically isolated.
00:39Official results of that election handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office, but they were denounced by the opposition and the West as a sham.
00:46Svetlana was forced into exile in Lithuania a day later.
00:49Now earlier today there was a press conference in Vilnius Lithuania and we got to hear the first words of Sergei upon his release.
00:56I spent more than five years alone in solitary confinement all the time, sometimes in a small room, sometimes in one about 18 metres, but alone completely without information.
01:15It is called the harshest regime. Nothing is allowed, no lawyers, no complaints, no letters, nothing. You just sit in your cell.
01:23I can now say we have the opportunity to speak directly to Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya, Belarus's opposition leader in exile, who yesterday embraced her husband, Sergei, for the first time in five years.
01:39Svetlana, thank you so much for taking a moment to speak to us.
01:42If you can just describe to us, the very moment that you found out that Sergei was going to be released, did it come as a shock?
01:51Was there any indication whatsoever that he was going to be freed after five years?
01:56You know, General Kellogg's humanitarian visit to Minsk had important results.
02:04We knew that some political prisoners are going to be released, but I couldn't even expect it that among those who are released will be my husband.
02:12Because, you know, he's like, you know, so-called enemy to Lukashenko is the person who dared to challenge Lukashenko back in 2020.
02:21So we really wanted as many people released as possible.
02:26But when yesterday at midday, somebody called me and I heard my husband's voice that, my dear wife, I am free, I am crossing the border, I was really astonished.
02:39I couldn't expect this, but in a couple of hours after this call, I managed to hug my husband and my children managed to see their daddy in five years.
02:50I heard from your husband earlier in the press conference today, he spoke very emotionally about the fact that your daughter didn't recognize him.
02:59I just wonder, how do you go about rebuilding your family?
03:04You know, take yourself out of the politics of all of this.
03:06It's it's such a long time and there's so much to reconcile.
03:11Where do you begin?
03:12Look, five years is a huge period of time and all these five years my husband was kept isolated and, you know, many people are still suffering in jails.
03:24And but, you know, my husband is very brave, he's energetic and he's really want, you know, to dive into our democratic movement to continue fight with the with Lukashenko's regime.
03:37So our ultimate goal is to release all political prisons, the number of which at the moment more than one thousand and try to hold free and fair elections in Belarus.
03:49Where do you go from here now in exile?
03:53It's it's been five years of struggle and you've tried to rally support as much as possible.
03:58But nonetheless, Lukashenko won another election this year and now seems to be seeking some kind of a at least a favor from the United States, which is not something that has been going his way in the past.
04:13So who are you going to be looking for help?
04:18For five years, we have been enjoying real support and solidarity from the democratic world, our democratic allies.
04:26We saw how principled and firm our partners regarding Lukashenko's regime.
04:32Lukashenko is not recognized as legitimate ruler.
04:35Democratic partners are working with democratic forces of Belarus.
04:39But of course, you know, these diplomatic steps to release political prisoners are of extreme importance.
04:45And we deeply appreciate President Trump, General Kellogg and the U.S. State Department for their tireless work to achieve this.
04:51Together with continued pressure and support from European Union, this action showed that real power of global solidarity and diplomacy.
05:01However, this mission to Minsk should not give any legitimacy to Lukashenko's regime, which remains brutal and rejected by Belarusians.
05:10So Lukashenko is selling our country, our independence, sovereignty of Belarus to Russia.
05:17He is continuing to threaten our Western neighbors and he's continuing to keep millions of Belarusians in jail.
05:26So we have to continue this policy, policy of pressure of the regime supporting people until real changes will take place in Belarus.
05:37You talk about those 1,100 political prisoners who are still in Belarusian jails.
05:43Two of those I can speak of, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Alessa Bialyatsky, a personal friend of yours as well, activist and musician, Maria Kalesnikova.
05:52Do we have any word on them?
05:54Do we know anything about their whereabouts?
05:56You know, many people, including Aless Bialyatsky, our prominent human rights defender, and Maria Kalesnikova, they are kept in communicado mode.
06:07So it means that they don't have possibility to communicate with their relatives, no letters, no lawyers.
06:14So it's like full isolation.
06:15But, of course, with joint efforts of the United States of America, Democratic Forces of Belarus, European Union, we have to make a regime to release people.
06:27These democratic countries have enough power and leverages to make Lukashenko change his policy and start releasing people.
06:36So we are looking forward for the next releases of next groups of people.
06:41But, again, I want to repeat, no communication with this regime, no legitimizing of this regime until all the repression is stopped.
06:51Political prisoners are released.
06:53Only then we can talk through reconciliation process.
06:57Svetlana, you've mentioned no communication, and yet the United States did communicate, obviously, with Lukashenko to secure the release of your husband.
07:06Normally, with any kind of prisoner release, there is some sort of a trade.
07:10And I don't suppose that you know at this stage exactly what led to the release.
07:15So why now?
07:17Your aide, I do believe, said it was just good enough for Keith Kellogg to visit.
07:22Look, we know that the United States is making efforts to secure the release of all Belarusian political prisoners, and we are absolutely grateful for that.
07:32You know, I actually doubt that a meeting with Lukashenko will help somehow to end the war, and it could be the point of discussion of this meeting.
07:41Lukashenko is not an independent actor, but it can help release political prisoners, and it happened.
07:46So, you know, such meeting risks, of course, legitimizing Lukashenko, his war criminal, and progress in Russia's war against Ukraine.
07:56He must be held accountable.
07:58Lukashenko illegally seized power and dragged our country into the war, and, you know, he may hope that international contacts will help him to evade responsibility, but that must not happen.
08:10And we trust that our American partners understand this.
08:14On the one hand, we welcome any effort to release political prisoners, but on the other, we must maintain firm, consistent policy until real democratic change is achieved.
08:24And we must not forget Ukraine.
08:26Lifting, for example, sanctions that is, like, under discussion in the regime of Lukashenko now, lifting sanctions now can be seen as a betrayal of Ukraine and all those who fight for freedom in our region.
08:38Svetlana, you're still in Lithuania, and your husband has said that it's going to be a long time until you return to Belarus.
08:47Will you still be fighting from outside the country, or do you ever see a time where you may take the fight back into the country, even if Lukashenko is still in power?
08:57Look, we don't know when and how the changes will come to Belarus, but what I know for sure that Belarusian people inside the country and outside the country are not giving up.
09:09We continue to fight, we continue to strengthen agency of the democratic forces of Belarus, and we must be prepared for the window of opportunity.
09:18Lukashenko's regime is rather fragile, and, of course, a lot depends on the results of the negotiation on Ukraine, because the faiths of Belarus and Ukraine are intertwined.
09:28We are fighting the same enemy, and we are asking our democratic partners at the moment of dialogue, you know, Belarus has not to be overlooked.
09:38Our democratic partners, strong allies, has to demand withdrawal of Russian troops, not only from Ukraine, but also from Belarus, and demand policy of non-interference from Putin, non-interference into Belarusian internal issues.
09:56And we, as Belarusians, we will manage to use this moment of opportunity and achieve our goals.
10:04That are, I want to repeat, release of all political prisoners and free and fair elections.
10:09That's on the diplomatic front and applying pressure to the Lukashenko regime from the outside.
10:14Now, as we carry on going back to, there are many people still in the prisons of Belarus, even back from 2020, when those mass protests were started, from that build-up to the election, and you taking over as opposition leader.
10:29In terms of those people who still have relatives in the prisons, what message do you give to them to keep strong and carry on?
10:37I'm asking people not to give up and hold together.
10:42I have to say that our democratic movement is as united as never before, and we are not giving up.
10:49Just, I want to say that we are taking, putting all the efforts together with European Union, the USA, Canada, UK, to release our beloved, our friends, our relatives from prisons, because we have responsibility for all those people.
11:06And as my husband told today that people behind the bus, they rely on Belarusians, they rely on power and strength of a democratic world.
11:16We believe in this world and people paying for the values of democracy with their freedom and some with their lives.
11:26Let's just finish off by going back to your husband's story, because he spent five years in solitary confinement.
11:34I believe that he was writing his own poems and reading them to himself to keep himself occupied.
11:41Absolutely no news of the outside world.
11:44How have you managed to basically brief him as to what's happened just in these last 24 hours?
11:51I think it will take time for him to understand what is happening in democratic forces, what is happening in the world, actually.
12:01But he's ready to learn all this information and contribute as much as he can into our movement.
12:09And, you know, a lot of things are happening, a lot of interconnected things, like the war in Ukraine, now the war in Iran, you know, the pressure of Russia on our republic.
12:20We see the process of russification in Belarus, the process of creeping occupation.
12:24And, of course, being fully isolated people, released people cannot fully, like, understand what is happening.
12:31But, you know, they desire, you know, to help Belarus and democratic forces to contribute.
12:38It will bring, you know, later people in our movement and they will strengthen our people, will inspire even more for the fight.
12:47And just on a personal note for you, Svetlana, when your husband was arrested, you took up the mantle as leader of the opposition.
12:56Five years later, have you felt a sense of going back to a moment where this was all new to you?
13:04It must be such a growth process that you can't believe, actually, who you were, when that happened and who you are now.
13:11Of course, my life has changed dramatically.
13:17I would say for five years I had to learn so many new things, had to learn politics from scratch.
13:25But my teachers in politics were the most prominent politicians, like President Macron, like different leaders of all the countries.
13:35So I had the best teachers ever.
13:38And, of course, I'm, you know, a different person at the moment.
13:43But, you know, deep in the heart I'm the same as Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is loving people, who are trying to take care about or who are surrounding me.
13:52And I, you know, politics, you know, didn't ruin me personally.
13:57It just encouraged me, you know, to act more effectively, you know, to learn from the best and continue our fight till our victory.
14:07Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, thank you so much for speaking to us here on the World Roundup Show on France 24,
14:13speaking after the release of her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, after five years in prison under Lukashenko's regime.
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