Maryna Zolatava — USA, EU: Please, don't stop!

Photo: Volha Shukaila SOPA Images LightRocket via Getty Images

"My name is Maryna Zolatava. For 18 years, I was the editor of Tut.by, and I spent four and a half years behind bars. In December 2025, I, along with other political prisoners, was taken from the colony in Homel. Now I am free, together with my family. But in these five months, not a single day passed that I didn't remember those who remained there.

Currently, there are over 100 women political prisoners in Belarus.

Some ended up behind bars due to their convictions, while others — completely by accident. But it is absolutely certain that neither the former nor the latter deserve the suffering they are currently enduring.

I see the eyes of these women. In them — hope, anxiety, anticipation. Sometimes despair, sometimes longing. Attempts to appear cheerful in public, while the heart is breaking from pain. Because you don't know when you will see your loved ones. And sometimes you don't know if you will see them at all.

Some of them are well-known, they are remembered more often, but the names of most of them will mean nothing to you. Doctors and nurses, teachers, cooks, hairdressers, lawyers, advocates, journalists, students, athletes, entrepreneurs, civil servants, pensioners… Many of them have been behind bars for 4, or even 5 years. They need to be saved. Urgently.

I am grateful to the Special Envoy of US President John Coole and his team for their efforts, which have led to hundreds of political prisoners being released from Belarusian prisons over the past year. But the repressions in Belarus are not stopping, and more and more people are ending up in prisons due to politics. There is nothing more important than human life, health, and freedom. I appeal to everyone who can influence this catastrophic situation.

I appeal to the American side: please, do not stop.

I appeal to the authorities of EU countries: your voice and participation are of immense importance.

Finally, I appeal to the authorities of Belarus: it is within your power to stop this, it is time to stop these repressions. Not even for the sake of lifting sanctions. For the sake of the future. For your own sake. This cannot continue any longer.

I also appeal to all who care. Please, do not be silent. Become the voice of those who cannot speak up for themselves. Post with hashtags #яеёголос and #iamhervoice on your social media. Together we can change the situation."

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