Twice a hero

Many may argue: no, Sergei Kavalenka is at least three times a hero.

Some will say that placing a flag on the Christmas tree in Vitebsk was an act of bravery. But no. It wasn’t an act of bravery for Kavalenka to raise the national flag on the tallest tree in the city. Overcoming any obstacles in order to place this one and only flag for the Belarusians was for Kavalenka as natural as breathing or heart rate. In other words, as the functioning of the body. But to stop the hunger strike and to write a petition (not a request!) for a pardon - these are real exploits for Sergei, judging by what we have learned about him for this time. Thus, Kavalenka is twice a hero.

By one stroke of the pen, he decided to quit from the reality show "Political prisoners behind bars," which we have arranged. It's you and me who with interest of true viewers watched the challenges of political prisoners and had a lively debate: will he sign the petition or not, will he stop the hunger strike or not, will he die or not. Soon certain bookmakers will take bets on the fate of political prisoners. It’s a promising direction and there are more prisoners in the country than football matches. One came out - the other was imprisoned, Cells are never empty, and the dead season in repressions does not happen. So the totalizator will operate smoothly. And when Sergei Kavalenka stopped the hunger strike, many gambling fellow citizens were terribly disappointed:  he was on the verge, just a few more days - and this is it Climax and catharsis. And suddenly such a bummer! But the show must go on! How can one live now without the information about dying Kavalenka? It’s bo-o-oring ... And now, when it became known that he wrote a petition for a pardon, too many people were disappointed: No, he did not meet the expectations; we had hoped that he will rot in the prison, if he didn’t die from the hunger strike. But he spoiled everything.

No doubt, Sergei Kavalenka knew that he became a "picture". But he is a living person. Not a lump of ice and not a monument, carved in a rock. No matter how great the temptation was to go all the way and sacrifice the life, he realized that giving his own live and freedom to the dictator will be too much honor. And he decided to stay a living person, not a monument, to which over the years couples would place flowers.

It's not just that now there is hope for Sergei Kavalenka to return home earlier. After the first sentence, he lived at home as in hell. This is the case when I say firmly, "I know what I’m saying", because I live in the same hell. Ask Elena Kavalenka, what is it like, when the police break into a house in the night, where small children sleep. And I have no doubt that if Sergei will be released, then, surely, with some "restrictions", like a curfew. Thus, he still will remain in prison, even at home. But I'm happy that he signed that damned paper and got a chance to return home. There is reason for it, and it’s not just about the family reunion.

It’s just these three are inseparable, like romantic three comrades of Remarque, and cannot exist without each other: Kavalenka and Belarus, Kavalenka, and the flag, and Belarus and the flag. They just have to be together.

Irina Khalip for charter97.org