Leonid Sudalenko: Lukashenko Was Forced To Negotiate
1- 2.07.2025, 17:35
- 7,706
U.S. pressure and sanctions have begun to have an effect.
Lithuanian poet and Soviet dissident Tomas Venclova has appealed to Pope Leo XIV to intervene and demand the immediate release from prison of political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.
What can the new Pope Leo XIV do to free Bialiatski and other Belarusian political prisoners? For a comment, the site Charter97.org turned to human rights activist and former political prisoner Leonid Sudalenko.
- The Human Rights Center "Viasna" has a special group that deals with the issue of Ales Bialiatski's release. Ales is a symbol of Belarus, a figure for whom we must fight first of all. We proposed Tomas Ventslava, a very well-known and respected person in Lithuania, a human rights activist of the Soviet Union times, to address the Pope. He agreed, and together we prepared a letter on his behalf. It emphasizes that Ales Bialiatski is a Catholic who has done a lot for the Catholic Church in Belarus.
In 2014, Pope Benedict XVI publicly spoke in support of Bialiatski, and then Lukashenko pardoned and released him. We believe that now the voice of the new Pope Lion XIV may once again play a decisive role in the fate of Bialiatski as a symbol of all Belarusian political prisoners.
Symbolically, Belarus opened an embassy to the Vatican for the first time, and Lukashenko invited the Pope to visit. This is ostensibly a step toward building relations. We suggested through Thomas Venclova that the Vatican should address Lukashenko and ask: if Lukashenko really wants to build relations with the Pope, show some humanity - release the Nobel laureate, the only such prisoner. In Iran, Narges Mohammadi was released for medical treatment, and in China, Liu Xiaobo died in custody.
Ales is no longer an old man. His sentence is 10 years. His release is scheduled for 2031. We are not just talking about freedom, but about saving a life.
We draw a historical parallel: the last Nobel Peace Laureate to die in prison in Europe was Karl von Ossietzky, tortured in Nazi camps in 1938. A hundred years from now, history may repeat itself - this time in Belarus - if no decisive steps are taken.
- Recently, 14 political prisoners were released from Belarusian prisons through the mediation of the Donald Trump administration. What tools does the U.S. have to facilitate the release of all political prisoners?"
- Unfortunately, the strategy of releasing all political prisoners is not quite working yet. It has been five years, but there is no result. However, we now see that the latest US steps are bearing fruit: today some 16 more people were released, Lukashenko "pardoned" them.
I have no doubt that Lukashenko did it not because he became more humane and stopped being an ogre, but because the US pressure and sanctions began to yield results: the dictator was forced to negotiate. We have seen direct contacts between Lukashenko and the Americans. And as a result, he was forced to give up his main enemy - Sergei Tikhanovsky. It was him - not Viktor Babariko, not Maria Kolesnikova, not Ales Bialiatski, not Pavel Seviarynets, not Nikolai Statkevich, although they are all our heroes.
I am sure: if the U.S. acts with the same persistence, it will be possible to secure the release of the others. As Sergei Tikhanovsky said at press conference: if Donald Trump demands the release of all Belarusian political prisoners, it will become possible. Yesterday, Lukashenko justified himself to his vertical and law enforcers for the pardon and admitted that he would soon be obliged to release more.
I believe that Ales Bialiatski should be released first, because he is a symbol of inflexibility. Bialiatski's release could be the beginning of the release of all the others. He is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who, even behind bars, continues to call for national reconciliation.
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