Belarusian prisoners released in the treatment backed by Trump face a cruel turn
Vilnius, September 12 (Reuters) – Belarusian prisoners released from jail on Thursday and exiled to Lithuania in a negotiated agreement in the United States told Reuters who were confused for having to leave their country of origin, especially since many should almost be released anyway.
Belarus released 52 prisoners, including an EU employee after an appeal from the president of the United States, Donald Triumphlike Washington and Minsk consider an approach that many European leaders have seen with skepticism.
The exiled opposition says that released political prisoners should have the right to stay in Belarus instead of undergoing what they say they are forced deportations.
“I wanted (go) home, to my house in Belarus.
Around half of the prisoners released Thursday by the former Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko were almost at the end of their prison terms, said the senior opposition official, Franak Viacorka.
“Imagine, they were eager to free themselves soon, and suddenly they are deported, separated from the family, they have no passports and cannot return,” he said.
Kevin Dietsch through Getty Images
The opposition politician, Mikola Statkevich, one of the most prominent of those released, refused to enter Lithuania on Thursday and returned to Belarus.
Marina Adamovic, his wife who is in Belarus, told Reuters on Friday that he had no contact with him since then.
The opposition official, Viacorka, said he would probably be reloaded.
“Lukashenko’s regime has a problem, because he was officially released from jail, but they cannot allow him to go home in Belarus. They will probably give him another criminal case,” said Viacorka.
The opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile, said the West should demand that Lukashenko allow former political prisoners to remain in the country.
“People have to have the right to stay in Belarus,” he said.
A bag on the head
Outside the United States embassy in Vilna, many said they sympathized with Statkevich’s decision not to leave.
“I want to go home. I can’t imagine my life without Belarus. I want to go home,” Iryna Slaunikava, an opposition journalist who spent two years and eight months in jail, told Reuters.
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“I don’t know if this is safe, but I really want to go home. I served almost all my prayer, with four months, haven’t I earned the right to live at home?” She asked crying.
Another former prisoner, Pavel Vinogradov, said he should meet his son for the first time in four years on Saturday, but instead he found himself in Lithuania.
“Yesterday, when they put a sack in my head and took me somewhere, I knew I was dating,” he said. “I hope my wife finally comes here, and I know my son in the European Union.”