Marina Adamovich, wife of Mikola Statkevich, comments for Palitviazni.info the situation of her husband and other political prisoners.

-Your husband, Mikola Statkevich, said that he has been threaten few times that his request for pardon will be written for him and his handwriting will be forged. Is such a forgery  indeed possible?

– In fact, Mikola recalled the events that took place  nearly two years ago, when the “court” colony of Lukashenko received “far-reaching confidence” – forced execution of requests for pardon  from the “political”. It was then that the threats were used. As far as I understand it, now Mikola mentioned these events to suggest that something is going on again. I would like to  explain that  the pardon was  not  requested from him for a long time.

– Why do you think the authorities force political prisoners so intensely  to issue pardons? We are aware of the significance of refusing to sign such documents – it is an attempt to prove one’s innocence. But, why the authorities are so determined to force the prisoners to write pardons?

– Refusal  is important, because, firstly, these people profess certain values​​, a sense of dignity does not allow them to make confession, when they are in fact innocent. All of them … not only Mikola, for whom signing the pardon would mean betraying the people who entrusted him and at the same time giving an argument for the “legitimacy” of power, because when the authorities ask for  “pardon”, it automatically means an admission of guilt – thus it is equal with putting  into the hands of authorities  the ultimate law to judge  and pardon. The imprisonment due to political reasons is a situation  comparable to  a war, even if  it sounds pompous, and  in fact they are there of their own volition. At the cost of personal liberty  they are trying to save both,  their  own dignity and the right to a normal future for all of us. Political prisoners are trying to prevent the spread of the trade of hostages  in the future, that is why they  refuse to trade with their own freedom. Today, these boys are a real bite for those who put them in prisons. Even if there remains only one of the political prisoners who refuses to “beg”, he  in this way denies the legitimacy of the government, not only in their own eyes, but also around the world. More specifically, it is the answer to the question why the authorities  pressure political prisoners so much.

– You resented, when journalists in the mass media have spoken out about the alleged releases of political prisoners. Why do you consider such publications as unacceptable?

– Resent? It’s not the good word … But it is not our role to read tea leaves. Please tell me on what were based such statements? Given what we have said,  is the demonstration of own weakness  in the interest of the authorities? (Words like “grace”, “relevance”, “objectivism”, “justice” and “rule of law” –  are unfortunately  not in the dictionary  of the authorities). However, the hopes that the political prisoners will be  released  are vain  and suit the authorities fine. Such hopes cause  that all activities, also in Belarus, aiming at  liberation of political prisoners cease to exist . It also gives a kind of breathing space to those who govern us in an unlawful manner. For our boys it unfortunately  means lost months and years spent in captivity … and for relatives, regardless of the illusory nature of such expectations, it is simply the pain of unfulfilled hopes for which there is no chance of fulfillment. Here, I think, it would be suitable to cite Fyodor Tyutchev: “We should not look for presuppositions  in  echoes triggered by  our words, compassion comes to us just as comes grace…” It is therefore needles to speak, especially since the words alone bring few real changes …