Should political prisoners who were informers in detention be helped with emigration? Bunevich and Lutskina debated

Alesia Bunevich. Photo: Office of Democratic Forces of Belarus in the Czech Republic

At the Congress on Political Prisoners, which took place recently in Vilnius, former political prisoner Alesia Bunevich, co-founder of the Warsaw shelter "Prytulay Mne" (Shelter Me), initiated a discussion on how society and the community of former political prisoners should treat former informers.

"There are cases where a person worked [for the colony administration]. He caused harm, specifically harmed other people. They collect evidence, appeal to us, so that we, for example, evict him [from the shelter]. Or influence some organizations that provide assistance. I don't know how ethical it is to deny these people assistance…

But still, there must be some responsibility for what they did there. Because "working" can also be done in different ways.

This is a very fine line. Because sometimes there is evidence or testimonies both for and against, whether to publicize or not publicize…

We cannot refuse a person, because they have the right to this assistance. But from the point of view of some interpersonal relationships, it's already very difficult here," explained Alesia Bunevich.

Ksenia Lutskina, a former political prisoner, responded to her.

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Ksenia Lutskina. Photo: Lookby.media

"This topic of 'worked or didn't work,' 'informed or didn't inform'… Marfa [Rabkova] and I actively discuss it. And we discussed it in the colony. You know, this 'informed,' when a person was branded. It's despicable.

Now [these] people have been released, they have the right to assistance and existence, and this should not be an obstacle. Yes, people can be weak, they can be harmful. A colony is not the most pleasant thing, and it doesn't offer the best examples of what happens to people psychologically.

Could one refuse [to work for the administration]? Yes, one could. But people are different, there are weak people. And now, denying assistance is actually impossible. Are [they] victims? Yes, absolutely.

Later all archives will be opened. All our cases will be opened, all testimonies given against us will be opened. Who, how much… For example, they were looking for half a million dollars or euros from me. I know who gave those testimonies. And it will definitely come out someday.

Why settle scores now? People are living with this now. And transferring prison to peaceful life, I think, is not necessary," Lutskina believes.

Alesia Bunevich — former director of a printing house in Vilnius, involved in the "railway partisans" case. She was arrested when she came from Lithuania to Belarus for the anniversary of her mother's death. Bunevich helped people threatened with political criminal prosecution to cross the border illegally. She fully served her sentence, and after release, she moved to her family in the European Union.

Ksenia Lutskina — journalist, former employee of Belteleradiocompany and creator of the "Terra Incognita" cycle. Until August 2020, she worked as a correspondent for the "Belarus 2" TV channel, after the elections she joined the strike of the holding's employees, resigned, and became a main member of the Coordination Council. Together with other journalists, she planned to create an alternative television on YouTube — this is what the authorities used as the basis for the case. Lutskina was sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony for "conspiracy to seize state power" (Part 1, Article 357 of the Criminal Code). In detention, the journalist, who has a brain tumor, experienced a deterioration in her health; she was later released on pardon and evacuated from Belarus.

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