[Interview] ‘Belarus is still not Russia’: why Maryja Kalesnikava says the West still has leverage over Lukashenko
by https://euobserver.com/author/ondrej-kundra/ · EUobserver“Regardless of the circumstances, until the very last moment it is still you who decides about your freedom.” Source: Matěj Stránský
[Interview] ‘Belarus is still not Russia’: why Maryja Kalesnikava says the West still has leverage over Lukashenko
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By Ondřej Kundra,
Prague
,
We talk with a leading figure of the Belarusian democratic movement about returning to freedom and how to continue dealing with president Lukashenko.
When I last interviewed you, it was remotely, through an intermediary, and you were in prison. When I asked how you would describe your physical and mental state, you wrote back that reading, sport and red lipstick were especially helpful to you. You are wearing it now, too, in freedom. Can you imagine yourself without it?
Of course. I was without it, for example, when I was in complete prison isolation for a long time. At that time, I was not only without lipstick and unable even to comb my hair, but I was also without phone calls and letters from my family, without any possibility of seeing my loved ones. It was a time when I knew absolutely nothing about them, and likewise they knew nothing about me.
How did you pass the long hours in prison?
I read a lot. Five books a week. In freedom I no longer have time for that, there are many other duties here.
Why is it important for prisoners to maintain daily rituals like yours with red lipstick? One might say that in prison it does not really matter what a person looks like.
Lipstick and other similar little things allowed me to remain free in an unfree environment, they strengthened my individuality and enabled me to be stronger. Because of my case, the guards later banned women in the penal colony from using it, lipstick was removed from the shop.
Maryja Kalesnikava (44)
Kalesnikava is one of the leading figures of the Belarusian democratic movement. Before her imprisonment and entry into politics, she worked as a music teacher and flautist. She was released at the end of last year.
How would you describe the prison where you were held? What did your cell look like?
I was completely alone in the cell. The solitary cell was two by three metres. I was in it for two and a half years. It was a dreadful 19th-century cell with only cold water, little light and little air. Yet I came to one important realisation – even in these repulsive conditions there were people who remained human, who behaved decently. I am also talking about some of the guards
What helped you get through that difficult period, especially when you were completely cut off from the world behind bars?
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“Regardless of the circumstances, until the very last moment it is still you who decides about your freedom.” Source: Matěj Stránský
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Author Bio
Ondřej Kundra is the deputy editor-in-chief of Respekt, where he has been a permanent editorial member since 2002 focusing on Czech politics, justice, and the influence of foreign powers like Russia and China. He is award-winning investigative journalist, he has authored several books covering topics ranging from Russian intelligence services and European jihadists to Czech military aid for Ukraine.
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