After 5 years in jail, the disgruntled Tsikanski pledged to fight

Wilneyus: Siyari Tsikanski is almost unfamiliar. The major opposing figure of Belarus, imprisoned in 2020 and released unexpectedly on Saturday, once weighs 135 kg, about 6’4 “long, but is now only 79 kg.Heyn on Saturday, Tsikhanoski was freed along with 13 other prisoners and brought to the neighboring Lithuania capital Villanius, where he was re -associated with his wife, Belarusi opposition leader Swiatlana Tsikanasakaya and his children were deported. Talking to The Associated Press a day later, Tsikanski tries to smile and joking, but struggles to keep heavy sighs back what he tolerates behind the bars.“This is definitely a torture,” Tsikhanouski told the Associated Press in a Seet-Down interview since its release. Jail officials “Keep telling me: You will not only be here for the 20 years that we have already given you.” We will blame you again, “he said. “He told me that ‘you will never come out.” And they kept repeating: You will die here. , One of the most prominent opposition figures of Belarus, Tsikanski said he “forgot to speak almost during his years in solitary imprisonment. He was kept in full isolation, was denied medical care, and barely given enough food.“If you saw me when they threw only two teaspoons of porridge on my plate, two teaspoons …” he said that he cannot buy anything in the jail kiosk. “They sometimes gave me a small tube of toothpaste, a small piece of soap in the form of charity. Sometimes they used to do, sometimes they did not.” A major voice of dissatisfaction Now 46, a popular blogger and activist, Tsikanoski, Belarusian officials were freed a few hours after the announcement that the Electrient President Alexander Lakashnco met with the messenger for Ukraine in the Belarusi capital Minsk, US President Donald Trump. Keith Kelog Belarus became the highest rankings in the years to travel to Moscow’s close and dependent colleague.Tsikhanouski, known for his-Lushaneko slogan “Stop the Cockroach,” was arrested after announcing a plan to challenge Strongman in the 2020 election and was arrested and shortly before the campaign started. He was sentenced to 19 years and six months on the allegations widely seen as politically inspired. His wife fled to his place, rally across the country. Official results handed over his sixth term to the office, but condemned by the opposition and the West as a sham.Lusashenko has since tightened his hold, which achieves the seventh term in the disputed in January 2025 elections. From mid -2024, his government has waived around 300 prisoners – including American citizens – who sees an attempt to have an attempt to have a relationship with the West in analysts.Tsikhanouski credited US President Donald Trump for supporting his release.“I thank Donald Trump endlessly,” said Tsikhanouski. “They (Belarusian officers) want Trump to meet at least, a little, somewhere, to meet them halfway. They are ready to leave them all. They all!” Many are still behind bars Thousands of people put on the streets after the August 2020 vote. Thousands of people were detained, several police beaten. The major opposition figures either fled or imprisoned from the country.According to Viana, the oldest and most prominent human rights group in Belarus, at least 1,177 political prisoners live in custody. Among them are Viana’s founder, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Els Bioleteski.Also behind the bars are Victor Babbarika, a former banker, who was widely seen as the main electoral rival of Lakashnco in 2020, and Maria Kolsnikova, who is a close associate of Tasakhansukaya and the charismatic leader of the collective protests of that year. A surprising release and a emotional reunion Tsikhanouski called its release “A Dream Tho Stirn Hird Tort to Clive”. On Saturday, he said, the guards removed him from a KGB Pentiles Detention Center, placed a black bag on his head, and handcuffed him before taking him to Minibus. They and other prisoners did not know where they were going.“To be honest, I still couldn’t believe it. I was afraid that I would wake up and everything would still be the same. I do not believe it, I still don’t believe it, “he said, stopping again and again and wiping tears.Tsikhanouski’s children – their daughter, 9 years old, and 15 -year -old son – when they were reunited, did not recognize them.“We came in and my wife said to my daughter, your father has come,” he said, crying. “At first she could not understand, and then she went in – she was crying, I was crying … for a long time. My son too! These are feelings that cannot be described.” Tsikhanouski, who says his health has deteriorated behind bars, plans to undergo a medical examination in Lithuania. He says that the cold and hunger were “the main causes of the disease” that affected almost all political prisoners in Belarus, which were subject to “especially harsh conditions”. “There were skin diseases, and everyone had a kidney problem from cold – and no one really understood what is happening,” Tsikansuki said. “Blood came out of my nose, from my mouth. Sometimes I had objection – but it was all due to cold, when you sit in those punished cells, it was a terrible cold.” “There is no medical care in jail – no one, just you know …” he said.Tsikhanouski said the conditions improved slightly after the death of Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalani in a jail colony.“When Alexi Navalani died, I thought, it will probably be soon … And then something changed. It was clear that on the top someone said, make sure that he does not die here. We do not need that problem. ‘This is just a little soft … at some point, the word came down: Tsikanski should be kept alive, not killed. , Pointing to the finger on Putin Tsikhanouski convicted Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2020 protests and to date Lukhashenko.Russia supports Belarus’ economy with debt and subsidized oil and gas. In turn, Belarus has allowed Moscow to use its territory to launch soldiers and weapons in Ukraine, and hosted Russian forces and nuclear weapons.Tsikhanouski expressed strong support for Ukraine, calling Kremlin a common evil for both countries.“If it was not for Putin, we will already live in a separate country. Putin recognized Lakashnco’s victory in the election, he called Black White. He is, he refused to see a false,” said Tsikansuki. “They help each other. Due to Putin, this illegal government is still in Belarus.” Some analysts have speculated that by issuing charismatic and energetic Tsikanski, the Belarusian officials are trying to sow the partition within the opposition. But Tsikanski insisted that the Belarusi has no intention of challenging the role of his wife as an internationally recognized chief of the opposition, and he asks for unity.He said, “Under no circumstances I do not plan to criticize any belaried people, condemn or complain about anyone.”Tsikhanouski says he will not stop fighting and wants to return to active work as both a political person and a blogger. But he is doubting that Lushaneko, now 70, will voluntarily leave the post despite his age.“I don’t know anymore – what he will go or he will not?” Tsikhanuski said. “Many people say that nothing will change until he dies. But I am still relying on Democratic forces.”