Nikolai Statkevich Spoke Out Strongly Against The “trading” Of Belarusian Political Prisoners
- 28.10.2026, 13:54
The opposition leader urged people not to downplay the heroism of the freedom fighters.
Belarusian opposition leader and former political prisoner Nikolai Statkevich reacted on his Telegram channel to a letter from a group of former prisoners of conscience who had appealed to European politicians:
— A group of former political prisoners has appealed to the free countries of Europe with an impassioned call to take a more active role in the trade of Belarusian political prisoners as buyers. It’s practically a surefire win—after all, who could be against the release of the innocent? Such appeals will be positively received not only by the political prisoners themselves and their loved ones, which is entirely understandable. They will also be welcomed by the regime that keeps political prisoners in captivity and constantly adds to their ranks, which makes participation in the trade, at the very least, safe. The regime’s stance is also understandable: the more buyers, the greater the profit for the seller. And there are no problems with replenishing the supply of “merchandise.”
The proponents of revitalizing the political prisoner market, aside from the media attention, are trying to draw the attention of the political elites in countries of asylum—which is important for the refugees.
According to Nikolai Statkevich, such proposals to Western countries will continue to come in. The opposition leader reflected on the reasons behind their emergence:
— For example, “There is nothing more valuable than human life.” Here, the initiators of the appeal replaced one word. Instead of “human,” it would have been more honest to write “my.” Such a substitution is not obvious in free, developed countries, where one can live a life without ever facing a situation where one must choose between one’s own life and the lives of others. Throughout the history of all surviving nations, such a choice has arisen time and again, and in many other countries around the world, it may arise even now. What would those who wrote in the appeal about the indisputable priority of human survival choose? The answer is obvious to me.
Although the authors of the appeal ignore the importance of ideologies—that is, ideals, values, or beliefs—they are in fact promoting the oldest and most widespread ideology of all: the ideology of survival and adaptation at any cost. Adherents of such an ideology form the backbone of any repressive regime, because for the sake of their own well-being and self-preservation, they are willing to violate any norms of human morality—or simply to meekly ignore such violations.
The authors of the appeal also assert that “no political goal is worth people’s health and lives.” In saying this, they obviously have in mind the political goals of human freedom and national independence. I am convinced that spreading this very thesis is one of the main objectives of the actual authors of the appeal, which does not absolve the others—who joined for “humanitarian goals” and the sake of “respectable” company—of responsibility. To devalue the suffering and sacrifices of those fighting for freedom in Belarus, for the freedom and independence of Ukraine, and for the freedom of all enslaved nations throughout history, to discredit these values, and to reduce the number of their supporters—this is the true goal of the actual authors of this appeal, which offends me personally, as well as a large number of very worthy people—both living and dead.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, the agents carrying out this special operation do not even stop to consider that they live at the expense of and under the protection of the peoples of free and wealthy countries, which became so thanks to the struggle for freedom waged by their national heroes. By discrediting all “political goals” in general, you do not spare the very ideals and values that motivated the countries that took you in to do so. After all, you were regarded as followers of their own revered heroes.
One might still somehow explain why you expect to get away with spitting on the graves of your country’s freedom fighters, on the graves of those who died for Ukraine’s independence. But if you do the same thing to the freedom fighters of the countries that have given you refuge, aren’t you ashamed—or, more precisely, aren’t you afraid? Or perhaps it is your ideology that is pushing you to do this?