"Eight Hours of Forced Labor Was Better Than Solitary"... Reflections from Activist Freed After Resisting 'Europe's Last Dictator'

Belarusian Pro-Democracy Activist Bialiatski Released
Free After Four Years and Five Months; Won Nobel Peace Prize While Imprisoned
"EU Must Never Recognize the Lukashenko Regime"

Human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, who was imprisoned for leading a pro-democracy movement against the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko-often referred to as "Europe's Last Dictator"-has shared his thoughts following his release. Bialiatski, the founder of the Belarusian political prisoner human rights organization Viasna Human Rights Centre, was arrested in July 2021 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges including smuggling and financing actions that disrupt public order. While incarcerated, he was named a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

On the 13th (local time), human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, who was released in Belarus, visited the United States Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

According to Yonhap News Agency, Bialiatski said in an interview with The New York Times (NYT) on the 22nd (local time), "It feels like escaping from a room without air," adding, "I was so intoxicated by the oxygen that my head started spinning right away." He was released on the 13th, approximately four years and five months after his arrest, and gave the interview to the NYT in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on the 19th.

Bialiatski was reportedly blindfolded and transported by car to the border area between Belarus and Lithuania just before his release. He said, "They loaded me like a sack of flour and transported me across the border," adding, "I was treated like merchandise for sale."

Now 63 years old, Bialiatski said he performed physical labor during his imprisonment, such as moving pieces of wood for eight hours a day at the woodworking shop of Correctional Facility No. 9 in Horki, eastern Belarus. He also suffered from vein problems that caused severe swelling in his legs, making it difficult to put on boots for more than two years. He stated that it took over a year to receive leg surgery.

However, he recalled, "Although the work in the woodworking shop was tough, it was better than being locked in solitary confinement." He described the six months he spent in solitary as "a prison within a prison." According to Bialiatski, although there was heating in solitary, the broken window was covered with polyethylene, and mold grew, making it feel like an airless basement.

During his time in solitary confinement, he was allowed 20 minutes of outdoor exercise per day. Guards sometimes sent him to a very cold punishment cell, citing reasons such as unshaven appearance or walking separately during exercise. In the punishment cell, the bed was folded up and tied to the wall at 5 a.m., and when not sleeping, lying down was forbidden, so he had to sit on a metal bench. Bialiatski said, "I would fall asleep for 15 minutes, then wake up shivering from the cold," adding, "I had to exercise to maintain my body temperature." He noted, however, "I was never physically beaten by the guards," adding, "I think it was because I was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate."

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, known as 'Europe's Last Dictator.' Photo by Reuters Yonhap News.

President Lukashenko, who has maintained power for 31 years since winning Belarus's first democratic presidential election in 1994, secured another term in January, extending his rule to 36 years. He abolished the constitutional provision limiting presidents to two terms through a national referendum in 2004. Lukashenko has now ruled longer than Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has held power for 25 years since 2000.

President Lukashenko has embraced the nickname "Europe's Last Dictator." In a 2012 interview with foreign media, he stated, "I am the last and only dictator in Europe. In fact, there is no one like me anywhere in the world." In a 2022 parliamentary speech, he also said, "I am a dictator and find it difficult to understand democracy." In this interview, Bialiatski emphasized that "the European Union must never recognize the Lukashenko regime, which has remained in power since Belarus gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union."