Sarah Rainesford
Correspondents in Eastern and Southern Europe
EPA
Sergei Tykanovsky was so weak after his release that even his daughter did not recognize him.
Sergei Tikhanovsky has barely spoken in over five years.
All the while, he was boldly locked in solitude in a Belarusian prison to stand up to the dictator.
Now, the former opposition blogger is free and his thoughts sometimes struggle to catch up as words flow from him.
“The limitations of speaking were the most difficult,” confessed Sergei when they met shortly after the surprising release in Vilnius.
“When you can’t say or write anything, you can’t tell anyone, you’re just trapped in a cell – that’s the hardest thing – not a limit to movement.”
Sergei is now in exile and released along with 13 other political prisoners after a rare visit by a senior US delegation to Belarus’ authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko.
When I ask about his reunion with his family, Sergei raises his hand to his face and cry.
His daughter was only four years old when he was arrested.
“She didn’t recognize me,” he manages after eventually pausing for a long time. “Then she threw herself into my arms and we held her for a long time.”
Sergei’s transformation since his arrest is shocking.
In 2020 he was slouching and growing a beard. Now the face beneath his dense head is Gantt. He says he lost almost 60kg (132 pounds) in prison, where he spent endless weeks in punishment cells.
“Physically, I’m half my size and half my weight,” Sergei says. “But my mind isn’t broken. Maybe it’s even stronger.”
“I’ve only heard of the crimes of this administration, but now I’ve seen them firsthand and we have to fight them.”
Watch: Belarus’ opposition
Until last week, Sergei Tykanovsky was one of Belarus’ most prominent political prisoners.
Prior to the 2020 presidential election, he developed a big YouTube video by filming outspoken interviews about people’s complaints and issues.
He then tried to register to run himself, shaking his giant slippers to appeal to the Belarusians, “Stop the cockroaches!”
“I was using the chance to show that it was impossible to win democratically in Belarus,” explains Sergei. “I wanted to show that the election was fake, but they arrested me.”
She attracted a large crowd as his wife, Svetlana Tikanovskaya, continued running in his place. After Lukashenko insisted another incredible victory, those crowds protested and soon ended up in mass arrests.
EPA
After Sergei Tikanovsky was imprisoned, his wife Svetlana Tikanovskaya competed in the presidency in 2020
In prisons, Sergei, like other well-known figures, was constantly chosen for abuse.
“For the past two and a half years, I was completely isolated. I hadn’t received a single letter in almost three years. I didn’t call for it for almost three years,” he says.
He was not even allowed to see the priest.
“They’ll say: You’ll die in prison. We’re going to continue to extend your time and you won’t go outside.”
Worse, Sergei was frequently sent to the cell of punishment – for wall marks or stray nets.
“These cells can be three meters, such as holes in the toilet floor,” he recalls. “There’s no mattress, no sheets, no pillows.”
He had to wake up all night, keep him warm with a squat and abs set, lying on a wooden bed until his arms and legs were held in hand, and do the exercise again.
To cope, he had to empty his brain from all the thoughts of his family and friends.
“You have to put it on one side,” he says. “Because you can’t survive, considering how they and what’s going on with them.”
It was last August that Sergei began to think that he might leave.
That’s when the deputy prosecutor began to tour the prison and began to “seriously” recommend that political detainees write to the dictators and demand his pardon, as Sergei says.
Lukashenko suddenly became eager to look merciless, and dozens were released.
Sergei and other big names like Viktor Babaryka and Maria Kolesnikova were not on any list.
But he never enjoyed the idea of ​​confessing, even to return to his children.
“I’m not a criminal,” he explains. “It will be a betrayal of everyone who supports me.”
Then last week, the US intervened.
When special envoy Keith Kellogg traveled to Minsk to mediate for American citizens in prison, he also appeared with Sergey.
For Lukashenko, the meeting with Kellogg was a huge diplomatic victory.
He has been exiled by the West since 2020 suppressed peaceful protests.
His active support for Russia in the Ukrainian invasion further quarantine him.
“Now, Lukashenko can show that some cooperation has begun and dialogue with the United States,” Sergei explained what Lukashenko had gained from releasing some prisoners.
“That was the price: the beginning of contact with him, because no one was attractive.”
Getty Images & rfe/rl
(From LR) notable dissidents Maria Kolesnikova, Victor Babariko, Igor Rossic and Yell Biariasky all remain behind the bars in Belarus.
Sergei wants more than all other political prisoners being released. There are over 1,000 in total.
With tears in his eyes, he explains that he will recently meet a “old man” who turns out to be a young friend who has grown older than prison perceptions.
“I’ll give anything to pull them all out,” says Sergei. “I think we should pay any price, but I don’t want them to drop all sanctions.”
Sergei’s wife, now the leader of the opposition, is delighted to be back with him and his children. However, Svetlana says she is on guard for the next US move.
“We cannot ease sanctions until the oppression stops completely,” she insists. “For the 14 people released, a further 28 were immediately detained in Belarus. For Lukashenko, there is no change in policy.”
Sergei’s first week of freedom passed with a swirl of activity. He met with a politician, gave a speech, and was written to Donald Trump in his thanks. He has also caught up with lost time with his children. Also isolated is the news he missed.
But what about his ambitions? When he and Svetlana were last together, she was a housewife and he was political. So, is there tension?
“I have no claims about her role,” Sergei argues. “I don’t need that. I need democratic Belarus.”
EPA
Belarus’ white and red historic flags are used by Belarus’ opponents
