Blogger "Zhyve", released in Belarus due to Lithuanian citizenship: I saw a pistol aimed at me, and there was no time for discussion

LRT video screenshot

Viachaslau is a citizen of Lithuania; his wife is a citizen of Belarus but has lived in Lithuania for more than 10 years. He and his wife occasionally traveled to Hrodna to visit his mother-in-law for family matters.

— Probably, not even 24 hours passed [after arriving in Belarus] when there was a loud knock on my mother-in-law's door. They didn't answer the question "Who is it?". I immediately understood that they had come for me specifically (Viachaslau was a blogger under the nickname "Zhyve," criticizing Aliaksandr Lukashenka and — persistently — Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya — NN). Upon opening the door, I was forced face down, my hands were bound, and I was quickly led outside and put into a bus face down.

Read also: What is known about Viachaslau Papsho – the blogger "Zhyve" who went to Belarus and was arrested

— How many of them were there?

— Hard to say, I didn't count, but probably 6-7 people.

— But your wife wasn't touched?

— No, my wife wasn't touched, because she opened the door, and they just pushed her aside and entered the apartment. I was told to turn my back to them. The first thing I saw was a shield. The second was a pistol aimed at me, and there was no time for discussion.

— Where were you taken and what happened next?

— To the so-called temporary detention center.

— In the same Hrodna?

— Yes, there I already got acquainted with other officers.

— What were you accused of?

— They accused me of being a bad person, of speaking ill of Lukashenka's regime. The main secondary thought was that I was supposedly a Lithuanian security agent and they thought I was spying.

— But did you have any dealings with Lithuanian security?

— No, none at all.

— Is it true that you were polygraphed precisely for this reason?

— Yes, precisely for this reason.

— And they were convinced that you are not a spy?

— Yes, after some time they realized that I was not James Bond.

— How did the interrogations proceed? What did they demand from you?

— Interrogations... very difficult, constant psychological pressure. The main idea from the beginning was: I would go to prison, then my wife would go to prison, my mother-in-law, and the child would go to an orphanage.

— And in return, they demanded...

— In return, they demanded access to my YouTube and Telegram channels; they really needed it.

— Was physical violence used against you?

— If you count a heavily handcuffed hand, physical violence was used, because I felt those handcuffs for another week.

— But psychological violence was constant.

— Yes, constantly.

— Did you agree to give them your social media accounts?

— Yes, because family is more important than a channel. By giving up Telegram or YouTube, I don't change anything, nobody gets hurt.

— Did you have to say anything positive about the regime?

— Yes, of course.

— What exactly?

— I had to say very positive things. Two days later there was an interview with a journalist, as if everything was fine, that I was almost freely walking, but the entrance to the park was blocked from all sides, the entire area was closed, there was a camera, an armed man stood behind the journalist and told me what to say: everything is fine here, Belarus is wonderful.

— And what did you have to say about Lithuania?

— That there is supposedly no democracy, that everything is wrong, that there is no freedom of speech, that Belarusians have more freedom.

— And regarding NATO countries, that Lithuania is one of the NATO states with NATO servicemen, were there such topics?

— Yes, there were topics about NATO servicemen. To say in advance, for them I was like a "talking Lithuanian head" who had to broadcast certain propaganda ideas. To this day, I haven't understood where this was used, because when I got out, I couldn't find it anywhere.

— Was this not shown on your channels?

— No, it wasn't shown. They broadcast through their channels about NATO servicemen, for example, when NATO servicemen drowned in swamps in Lithuania, there was such a "report" of theirs, as if the servicemen were having a good time, buying alcohol in a store, driving along an unknown route in military equipment.

— You had to say this text, and you said it?

— Yes, I said it.

— How many such recordings were there that you participated in?

— Not many, which also surprised me. At first, I thought it would be almost constant work, but no, there were a maximum of about 7 recordings.

— How long were they? How did it happen? Where?

— It was like a TikTok format. Since I run a YouTube channel, I understand: if the phone is turned sideways, it's a wide format, if vertically — for Instagram or TikTok. They said the text shouldn't be longer than a minute. These were short videos for social networks.

— But this happened at your place of detention, in the isolation ward, as you said?

— Here in prison already.

— When were you transferred to prison and where was it? In Hrodna?

— Yes, Hrodna prison.

— How long in total did you spend in the detention center?

— 20-22 hours in the detention center, and on August 20th I was transferred to prison.

— And stayed there until December 2025?

— Yes, until December.

— But did the trial take place?

— No.

— And your family, wife, daughter, mother-in-law and father-in-law, were there any actions against them?

— No.

— And was your wife allowed to return to Lithuania?

— She was allowed, because that was one of the conditions why my wife and child were allowed to leave. I agreed to cooperate, gave all passwords and access to YouTube and Telegram.

— How did you find out you were being released? Who told you or how?

— When they were taking me to Lithuania, I thought they were taking me to be executed, because everything was like an action movie: bound, blindfolded, standing in a small forest, no one speaking, then brought to another place. They take off the handcuffs, the blindfold, and you see the bus where they are taking you. People also didn't talk, because everyone was strictly ordered to be silent. I only realized I was going home when I saw Lithuanian flags at the border. That was my second birthday.

— Do you blame yourself for not listening and still going, that it's your own fault?

— My own fault, I blamed myself the entire time I was there. There's no one else to blame.

— And is your psychological state still so difficult, or have you calmed down a bit over time?

— You know, I'm quite a positive person. Even in prison, I tried to joke about this difficult situation, and I think I'm psychologically strong enough to endure all of this.

• 2
• 0
• 1
• 1
• 0
• 4
• 5
• 2