Media manager Alaksandraŭ happy to find Belarusian journalism alive after prison
September 18, Pozirk. Media manager Andrej Alaksandraŭ, freed two days ago in Minsk’s deal with Washington, thanked Belarusian journalists for staying in the profession and keeping Belarusian journalism alive.
The journalist made the statement at a conference on Belarusian media taking place today in Vilnius.
Currently, 15 media workers are held behind bars in Belarus, said Andrej Bastuniec, chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), which organized the event.
Alaksandraŭ also thanked those who had supported him and his family during the years in prison.
“I know most of you, all my friends, colleagues and the people I worked with at the BAJ and BelaPAN,” he said. “It made me realize every day that everything was okay, people were working, things were moving forward, so that I could calmly stack pallets [in prison] and didn’t have to worry about anything.”
“The world hasn’t ended for us, and we aren’t ending, because we have each other. . . Bars are just a convention; they’re just circumstances. But we’re stronger than circumstances because we’re together—we’re really great and awesome. I really enjoy being around normal people—at least those with hair on their heads,” he added.
On September 16, the 25 Belarusian regime critics were taken to Lithuania following talks between Alaksandar Łukašenka and John Coale, US special envoy for Belarus, in exchange for Washington lifting sanctions against Biełlesbumpram and Łakafarba, Belarusian producers of wood products and paints, respectively.
Prisoner release falls short of expectations, but US-Belarus engagement likely to continue
Belarus transferred 25 political prisoners to Lithuania on September 16, far fewer than anticipated. Although a larger deal has not materialized, engagement between Minsk and Washington continues, with US officials expecting more dissidents to be freed in the near future. …
