Statkevich: Those who could not be intimidated by old age will never be intimidated

“The other day I learned that political prisoner Vaclau Areshka, a culturologist and intellectual, completely lost his sight. But he continues to be held in detention because he refuses to write a request for pardon.

Involuntarily, the question arises: why do they torment a 71-year-old blind culturologist, for whom his condition increases the suffering, already common for political prisoners in the regime's penitentiary system, many times over?

Revenge for participation in the governing body of the Belarusian National Congress, which the regime considers responsible for preparing a revolution?

Or are the regime's leaders still gripped by the fear experienced during the revolution, and are they trying in this way to so intimidate society, including its older part, to prevent a repeat of that nightmare? Although the frightened are already frightened. And those who could not be intimidated by old age will never be intimidated.

I think all these reasons are at play. But there is one more. The regime's leaders themselves cannot do to our people what is being done to them now. They act through a "machine" of executors. And the most important horror for the regime's leadership is that suddenly the executors will refuse to carry out their orders, that the machine of repression will break down. And then their supposedly strong and terrible power will crumble to dust.

To prevent this, the regime seeks to involve as many "law enforcement officers" of all kinds and stripes as possible in repressions, to "entangle" them in actions that any genuine court would recognize as crimes against humanity.

To force the "siloviki" (security forces) into submission, various means are used — from intimidation with deprivation of ranks and pensions, even accusations of state treason. To increased salaries and allocation of housing. And some are even publicly named as possible successors. Oddly enough, they take these promises seriously. But even those already involved in repressions hope to somehow avoid responsibility in the future or at least minimize it.

While in detention, I noticed that the maximum penalties for crimes against humanity, which are considered international and have no statute of limitations, have changed.

In the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, the corresponding article is called "Crimes against the Security of Humanity." Previously, it had the maximum penalty of capital punishment or life imprisonment. But since 2021, the maximum penalty has become 25 years of imprisonment. They understand what they are doing, what they might face for it, and are trying to "cushion the blow" for the future. And many simply hope to hold out until retirement, hoping that the new democratic government will forget about them or will not severely punish an old person. The main thing is not to be too prominent in those repressions if retirement is already close.

But the regime's leadership also notices this tendency. And tries to stop it. Thus, the torture of the blind 71-year-old Vaclau Areshka has its own logic for the initiators of this mockery precisely because such an act will not go unnoticed.

This is the creation of a precedent, a signal to the executors: do not hope for a safe old age. Because for what we are doing now to the blind culturologist, the "BCHBers" (opposition supporters) will later take revenge on you too. So do not try to evade, work to burn everything here to the ground.

Such is their logic.

As for me, for now, I can only admire Vaclau's courage and resilience and wish him freedom. In all senses of this word in the Belarusian language, which this worthy person loves so much,” Mikalai Statkevich wrote.

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