Bialiatski: All of Belarus is a big prison

— In Belarus, chats for relatives of prisoners have been recognized as "extremist formations". Can it be said that the authorities are deliberately expanding repressions, and not only activists but also ordinary people are now falling under attack? Is this a calculation by the authorities or a manifestation of a peculiar sadism?

Ales Bialiatski noted that the repressive mechanisms launched after 2020 are gradually expanding and covering increasingly new groups of people.

“These are launched repressive mechanisms that were primarily aimed at activists. But gradually this circle of repressions is expanding,” he said.

According to him, now even those who have nothing to do with politics are falling under pressure — including people who simply exchange information.

“They have already started to involve seemingly apolitical things — associations of people, information platforms where people exchange information. For example, chats for relatives of prisoners, where they discuss the most basic things: what to send, how to get to the colony. And suddenly they were made extremist,” Bialiatski noted.

The human rights activist added that similar logic could extend to other ordinary communities.

“What might be next — one can only guess. These could be school chats, or building entrance chats,” he remarked.

He also drew attention to the fact that the very concept of "extremism" is significantly blurred in Belarus and is becoming increasingly broad, as a result of which an increasing number of people are actually falling into the category of potential "extremists".

“The authorities are trying to isolate people, to make them interact with each other as little as possible, creating a situation of complete control over society,” Bialiatski believes.

"Managed chaos and the spread of fear"

Can it be said that such actions by the authorities deliberately form an atmosphere of fear and complete uncertainty in society, where a person does not know for what exactly they might face repression? And is there a chance that society will eventually realize that this threat concerns everyone, even those who believe they "did nothing"?

According to Bialiatski, this is precisely what the authoritarian system is striving for.

“Such seemingly irrational blows to a broad community of people create a feeling of fear in society, tension, uncertainty — what will happen, what can be done, what cannot be done. This is what any authoritarian system aims for, when a person does not know what might happen to them tomorrow. In our situation, one can only recall Stalinist times, when such a state was also created, when it was unclear who would fall under repression and how it would all happen,” he said.

At the same time, Bialiatski emphasized that direct comparisons with Stalinist times are not entirely correct. He noted that history usually does not repeat itself: although events may sometimes look similar, they still unfold differently. Therefore, according to him, it is not entirely correct to compare the repressions of the 1930s, when people died in thousands, with modern repressions.

“Nevertheless, for today’s level of civilizational development in Europe — and Belarus is part of Europe — this is nonsense. It causes great outrage, because there is nothing like it anywhere on the European continent,” Bialiatski remarked.

He once again noted that the situation in Belarus does not repeat the past and that today there are significantly more opportunities to influence society — including through independent media and social networks, which continue to operate in the country. The human rights activist added that this is also facilitated by the state of Belarusian society itself, which has become more educated and more pro-European than in previous periods.

“The authorities are trying to curb this spontaneous force, which is clearly hostile to them and does not perceive them as a legitimate government. And these repressions are the only means to maintain power today. Otherwise, this government would have long ceased to exist, because any more or less fair elections would have led to its change,” Bialiatski emphasized.

Павялічыць

Photo: Telegram channel "Viasna"

He also noted that the demand for independent information does not disappear, but on the contrary, increases — especially in crisis moments.

“And this is unequivocally true. Even from my speeches and interviews, which I give abroad, I get a wave of feedback — it is clear that all this works. Therefore, we are not working in vain. We are not working for ourselves, the opposition is not working for the opposition — this must be clearly understood,” said the human rights activist.

"All of Belarus is a big prison"

Are European countries correctly building their policy regarding Alexander Lukashenka's regime — particularly through sanctions and pressure? Should this approach be strengthened or, conversely, should paths for negotiations be sought?

Bialiatski noted that the European Union's position regarding Belarus so far remains consistent — all sanction pressure introduced, including for the regime's participation in the war and mass human rights violations, is maintained. At the same time, according to him, the world situation is changing, and the Belarusian agenda is gradually receding into the background.

“Of course, it must be taken into account that history moves forward, one event is replaced by another. We have been seeing the war near us for five years now, we see new conflicts unfolding in the world. And these events push our problems into the background,” Bialiatski noted.

He emphasized that in this situation, it is important to constantly remind about the situation in Belarus and draw attention to the fact that it has not changed. According to him, human rights activists continue to record new human rights violations daily, and the scale of repressions remains significant.

“Despite, it would seem, good news that I was released, my friends were released, we must not forget that according to Viasna's lists alone, 913 people currently remain political prisoners. And other violations occur, which restrict freedom and do not allow people to breathe freely,” he noted.

Павялічыць

In this regard, according to Bialiatski, it is necessary to continue talking about Belarus at the international level so that it remains on the agenda of European politicians and international organizations. He emphasized that for this, it is important to voice facts and do so openly, noting that, unfortunately, there is enough evidence of violations in Belarus.

“Nevertheless, some good news has still emerged, and I very much hope that this process of releasing political prisoners will continue — as American diplomats plan. That subsequent groups will be released, and perhaps in the coming months, all political prisoners, at least those currently imprisoned, will be released. Because now the process looks like this: some are released, others are imprisoned. Therefore, of course, we must strive for an end to repressions, an end to this repressive mechanism,” he said.

At the same time, Bialiatski noted with irony that the process of releasing political prisoners often looks like a peculiar trade: according to him, some were allegedly "exchanged" for potash fertilizers, and others for airplanes.

“On the other hand, if you trade with terrorists and negotiate with them, you also give them something in return for hostages. Our prisoners are actually captives, they are hostages of this regime, and they must be pulled out. Even if it's this way, the process is ongoing, and thank God,” the human rights activist believes.

However, Bialiatski noted that despite individual releases of political prisoners, the overall situation in the country has not fundamentally changed:

“By and large, nothing has changed. As the country was clamped down, so it remains. I have heard from people countless times: all of Belarus is one big prison. We sit in a small prison, and the whole country is a big prison.”

He added that without external pressure, no changes can be expected, and that nothing but economic and political pressure can force the authorities to release people.

"We are effectively a colonial country"

— Can it be said that Western economic sanctions, on the one hand, increase Belarus's dependence on Russia, and on the other hand, worsen the human rights situation? And what is more important for the future of the country in such conditions — pressure on the regime or maintaining greater independence?

Bialiatski believes that the issue of Belarus's dependence on Russia has no simple solution: according to him, Lukashenka has his own line in relations with Moscow, which external players practically do not influence. He emphasized that agreements with Russia are being fulfilled, and this directly affects the state of Belarusian independence.

“We are effectively a colonial country today, having neither our own separate military policy nor our own economic policy. We are heavily ideologically dependent on Russia. We see what is happening now — this Russification is underway, very actively recently. And Lukashenka approves of these processes. For cheap oil, as they say, free cheese is only in a mousetrap — and for such a price, he is effectively selling the Belarusian soul. And this is a huge threat to our future, to the future of the entire Belarusian people,” said the Nobel laureate.

At the same time, he noted that he currently does not see an immediate threat of Belarus joining the war, although in 2022, in the first months of full-scale aggression, the situation was much more dangerous and unpredictable. According to him, at that time there were real risks that Russia would be able to subjugate Ukraine and turn it into another colonial state, but these plans faced resolute resistance from Ukrainian society.

Павялічыць

Ales Bialiatski on the porch of the US Embassy in Vilnius after his release from the colony. December 13, 2025

“It seems to me that now the Belarusian authorities understand a certain adventurousness, but simply cannot step away from it. Because there are agreements, there are political promises, there are also obligations that Lukashenka took on in 2020 when he remained in power. We understand that if there hadn't been Putin's support, the history of Belarus would have gone in a completely different direction, and now he is forced to pay for it — including with the country's independence. But, thank God, for now, he is not crossing this last line and is not fully dragging Belarus into the war. Therefore, I think that the threat exists, but today it is smaller than in 2022,” Bialiatski believes.

Commenting on possible threats related to the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus, hybrid attacks, and the use of uncontrolled migration, Bialiatski noted that this is part of Russia's general policy aimed at destabilizing the situation near the EU borders.

“All of this is Russia’s general policy: to destabilize the stable situation near the EU borders, including through the deployment of nuclear weapons. It generally covers all of Europe. The Belarusian issue is becoming a problem for the entire European continent, and this really creates tension throughout Europe,” he emphasized.

Concluding the conversation, Bialiatski answered the question of how Belarusians can preserve themselves in the current situation.

“We wait, we gather strength. We await the next wave of activity and opportunities, because it will undoubtedly come — just as it did in 2020. It will repeat itself. We just need to learn from the negative experience, take all the best, and achieve qualitative changes in Belarus. How and when this will happen — no one knows. Therefore, we need to gather strength and continue to work,” the Nobel laureate concluded.

• 4
• 1
• 1
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 1