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Sergei Tikhonovsky, the husband of the opposition leader of Belarus, called on US President Donald Trump “just say the word” and ask all political prisoners in Belarus.
The opposition activist was released unexpectedly and reunited with his wife in Lithuania on Saturday. Thirteen other political prisoners were also released and forced into exile.
This step came when the US Special Messenger Keith Kealo traveled to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, and met with the country’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
It was the first loud American visit for many years.
At the emotional press conference the day after Tikhonovsky’s release, he crashed with tears when he described his five years in a solitary confinement and called for freedom of more than 1000 political prisoners who remained behind bars.
He was arrested in 2020 when he planned to run for the president against Lukashenko in the elections this summer.
He was imprisoned for 18 years in 2021 after the court sentenced him to rally on mass protests against Lukashenko, among other politically motivated allegations.
As an outstanding opposition figure, Tikhonovsky stated that he was contained in the fact that he called “the most stringent regime” cut off from all contacts with the outside world.
“You don’t even receive letters, no call. For five years I couldn’t even confess to the priest. Neither letters, calls, priest, no lawyer,” he said.
Then he began to sob.
“It’s a nightmare,” he said. “You ask about torture. Isn’t it torture?
He barely talked to anyone except the prison guards, and sometimes fought for words on Sunday.
“How can they do it? You (regime) consider us criminals. But we have rights,” he said.
“It’s inhuman. It’s a nightmare. They must stop it. We must pull people.”
He called on the US president to receive additional assistance.
“Trump has such power and such opportunities that he could release all political prisoners in a word. I ask him to say the word now,” he added.
His wife Svetlana Tikhonovskaya wiped his tears when he spoke. She used to call it her “personal hero”.
She also told how their daughter did not recognize her father, because he changed so much in prison and lost weight.
She said that on Saturday, Lukashenko received only one from the US administration for the release of the prisoner, the visit of the US Kegl Messenger.
He can present this as a diplomatic breakthrough after many years of political isolation for the repression of internal dissent and support for complete invasion of Russia into Ukraine.
But Tikhonovsky said that Belarus wants the most, this is the removal of US sanctions.
Prior to Tikhonovsky’s arrest, he was a colorful, open figure that had large subsequent social media in Belarus.
The video blogger and the activist addressed people to “stop the cockroaches”, citing Lukashenko, and toured the country to meet people on urban squares and villages to hear their problems.
Following his arrest in 2020, his wife entered the president’s run in his place in August.
When Lukashenko announced another landslide victory, her supporters flooded the streets in the biggest protests that the Belarusian never knew.
They were ruthlessly defeated, and Tikhonovsky was forced to escape from the country.
“The opposition leader is Svetlana Tikhonov, my wife, and I do not claim anything,” Tikhonovsky said on Sunday, insisting that he does not intend to take over the leadership of the Belarusian opposition abroad.
He had previously lifted his fist contrary.
“I want to tell all Belarus – if you are waiting for the symbol, that’s all,” he said, calling them to resist Lukashenko.
He said he regretted doing nothing – despite the treatment he received as a result.
But he added that his release from prison saved his life, because in such circumstances he would not have survived a complete sentence behind bars.
Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have estimated since the brutal repression of widespread opposition protests in 2020.
Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in the country over the last five years for political reasons, according to the Viasna Human Rights Group.
