Tsikhanouski, freed with U.S. support, makes first public statements

On June 22, Siarhei Tsikhanousky gave his first press conference after being released. He and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya gave opening statements and then answered questions from Belarusian and foreign journalists.

While answering some questions, Siarhei Tsikhanousky could not hold back his emotions — for example, when talking about seeing his children for the first time or about prison conditions. On other topics — such as his encounter with Raman Pratasevich — the politician spoke vividly and in great detail.

“Here is the sign”

“I want to address all Belarusians — if you were waiting for a sign, here it is. States fall when they cannot tell bad people from good ones. The accusation made against the executioner became a sentence for the victim,” Tsikhanousky said, raising his fist — his recognizable gesture from 2020, later repeated by Sviatlana when she ran for president in his place.

“The leader is my wife”

Journalists asked about leadership: who is now the main opposition figure in Belarus — Sviatlana or Siarhei Tsikhanousky? And does he plan to work with Tsikhanouskaya’s Office?

“I plan not to interfere in the activities of the Office,” he stressed.

According to Siarhei Tsikhanousky, while in prison he was constantly fed disinformation about what was happening in the democratic movement and in the Office, but he didn’t believe it.

“I’ve never met a more honest person than Sviatlana in my life. I’m not even worth her little finger… And I just nod at them: yes, yes, I read about that in the newspapers…” said the former political prisoner.

“The leader of the opposition is my wife — Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and I don’t intend to claim anything here. A person who has spent five years in isolation cannot be a leader. There are thousands of leaders like me in our country,” Tsikhanousky emphasized.

On Russia and Crimea

A Lithuanian journalist asked about Siarhei Tsikhanousky’s stance on Russia and his 2014 trip to occupied Crimea.

“I fully agree that Belarus’s liberation cannot begin until the Putin regime collapses. Absolutely. If not for Putin, we wouldn’t be sitting here now — everything would have ended in 2020–2021. I’m absolutely sure of that,” he said, rejecting all accusations of being “pro-Russian.”

Regarding the Crimea trip, Tsikhanousky explained that he had business, including in Moscow, and one acquaintance once asked him to go on a one-day pilgrimage. He admitted that at the time, he didn’t think in terms of “ours” or “theirs.” Today, he stated that Crimea is Ukrainian territory.

“And those claims that Russia makes regarding various Ukrainian territories — I absolutely do not support them. I fully support Ukraine. President Zelensky has been dealt an incredibly hard fate. What I’ve been through — I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what President Zelensky has gone through all these years,” he added.

Trump can release everyone

During the press conference, Siarhei and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump for helping to free political prisoners. Tsikhanousky is convinced that under pressure from Washington, Lukashenka could release everyone.

“President Trump currently has the power and the opportunity to free all political prisoners in Belarus with a single word, and I ask him to do it — to say that word.”

Politics is a dirty business

Siarhei Tsikhanousky also recalled the famous meeting in the KGB pre-trial detention center in the fall of 2020, when Lukashenka came there to speak with prominent political prisoners. During the meeting, Tsikhanousky asked Lukashenka several times why he had “planted” $900,000 on him (a large amount of cash was found at the Tsikhanouskys’ home, though not during the first search — the couple claimed the money was not theirs. — Euroradio).

“He said: ‘What did you expect? Politics is a dirty business. You have to be ready for them to plant money on you, grab you, and jail you.’”

Viktar Babaryka said: “We thought it was possible to come into it with clean hands.” I said: “Yes!” And he [Lukashenka] replied: “No!” — Tsikhanousky recalled.

On conditions for political prisoners

“All these five-plus years they didn’t even let me confess. Can you imagine? I’m an Orthodox Christian — I couldn’t confess or receive communion. And the law says [you can] once a month. Letters, phone calls, priest, lawyers — nothing. […] You couldn’t even buy a toothbrush or soap. For years!” — this is how Siarhei Tsikhanousky described prison conditions.

He wasn’t allowed to call his family or even exchange letters.

The conditions of “maniacs, murderers in neighboring cells,” Tsikhanousky said, were better.

“How can this be allowed? There are basic human rights, after all. A prisoner is still a human being, even if you consider us criminals. This must be stopped, people need to be pulled out of there.”

During the press conference, he repeatedly expressed confidence that all political prisoners could be released within the next six months. And he called on the United States to help make it happen.