Kalesnikava and Babaryka said they don't regret their decision in 2020
"In such pivotal moments: if you can, then you must."
Photo: LookByMedia
Maryia Kalesnikava and Viktar Babaryka, at their first press conference after release, answered whether they regret that everything happened exactly this way.
"This is probably the question I've been asked most often in the last 5 years by everyone. Starting from all the people who were next to me in adjacent cells, ending with those who conducted the investigation. And even after 5 years, they don't stop asking me this question, and you're asking me too.
No, I don't regret anything. I believe there are times that pose such questions to us, difficult questions, and we must make difficult choices.
I made this difficult choice very easily, because I was and I remain absolutely confident that I supported the right idea, I supported my values, which Viktar Dzmitryevich and Eduard Babaryka, his son, express.
I am not alone; there are many of us. And even now, having gone through very great trials and very great suffering, which for me has partially ended, and for many people it is still ongoing, I always remember this…
I still believe that in such pivotal moments: if you can, then you must. And perhaps, this is the answer to your question."
Kalesnikava said she plans to spend time with loved ones, pursue music, and travel.
Viktar Babaryka noted:
"My whole life I did what I considered right and necessary. In 2020, I did â we did â what we could do. You can only blame yourself if you didn't finish something.
The decision [to participate in the elections] was correct at the moment it was made.
Therefore, no, I don't regret what I did. (...) We didn't lose. We won. We didn't get a prize â but we proved to be stronger."
Babaryka also mentioned Kalesnikava's act with the passport.
"I don't know if they conveyed it to Masha or not, but now I want to say publicly... I don't even remember the day, but the moment I realized everything was done correctly. That's when Masha tore up her passport.
I know that at that very moment I understood the correctness of the decision, because... (...) It was done completely emotionally. And if that's the case, then trust a woman's intuition."
Comments
Сергей Ціханоўскі на першай прэс-канферэнцыі пасля вызвалення сказаў, што будзе змагацца за вызваленне астатніх палітвязняў і падзякаваў Трампу за вызваленне.
Калеснікава ж на першай прэс-канферэнцыі пасля вызвалення падзякавала Лукашэнку і сказала, што далей плануе заняцца музыкай і падарожнічаць.
Бабарико в декабре 2025го (на следующий день после принудительной депортации из Беларуси): "Мы выиграли".
І пра тое, што ў жніўні 2020 года адвяла натоўп пратэстоўцаў ад палацу Лукашэнкі і сказала "Ідзіце і гуляйце па горадзе, не парушаючы закон", таксама не шкадуе?