Iosif Siaredzich: We've withstood and survived

Narodnaya Volia newspaper marks its 18th birthday.

Narodnaya Volia editor-in-chief Iosif Siaredzich spoke to charter97.org about difficulties and pride of the paper.

“Our work is a holiday for us. Narodnaya Volia marks its 18th birthday, as well as other anniversaries, at work. We don't belong to newspapers involved in publicity stunts and public events. We are just doing our work, the hard daily work, sometimes boring but useful,” the journalist said.

He noted that the newspaper was printed abroad 10 out of 18 years of its life.

“We printed the paper in Vilnius for three years. Another three-year period is connected with Smolensk. Who else could have survived in these draconian conditions? We are proud that we were able to survive in spite of repression and violence from the authorities. We didn't betray our readers. We have been publishing issue by issue for 18 years,” Iosif Siaredzich said.