Edward Palchis: During the interrogations of the FSB, I was saying that I am an agent of the KGB

Former political prisoner gave an exclusive interview to charter97.org.

Edward Palchis, as it turned out, is not only a blogger or creator of the 1863x.com website. Nor is he only mysterious John Silver, whose identity the Belarusian Internet community has been trying to discover for two years. Nor is he only a person convicted of extremism, extradited fugitive, a former student of the history department, a political prisoner. Edward – is a movie-lover. His favorite movie is “Inception” by Christopher Nolan. In this movie, a line between a dream and reality, truth and fiction, life and fantasies is sometimes so unsteady that it is impossible to see – just like the Belarusian reality, when you do not understand whether this is a nightmare or reality. Edward loves a good movie. So, we tried to find association with his story in the cinema. Nothing was to be found , writes Irina Khalip.

- At least a genre is defined. Is it a thriller? An action? A detective story? Fantastic? Maybe, an adventure – you are, after all, John Silver?

- No. What has happened – is a silly comedy. Most of stories of prisoners staying at pre-trial isolation centers begin with the phrase: “Well, we had a drink and then we decided to go to …” And the ending of such stories seems logical. As for me, I was carefully planning everything in advance, and for a long time. For five months I thoroughly planned the launch of the website in such a way, that I could preserve incognito and nobody in any case could associate me with John Silver – however, it didn’t work out and I was arrested. In Ukraine, I was planning a secret return home for five months – and I was arrested. In general, it turned out to be a silly comedy.

- By the way, will you stay John Silver or not?

- You know, neither the one nor the other thing is perfect. When I was a John Silver, I was accused that I was a coward and did not participate in protests. Now, when I am no longer incognito, I am accused of doing my own PR.

-Will big system changes be implemented in your website?

- Actually, I'm going to run a crowdfunding campaign for my website to attract other authors, young people from small towns – same as me. Let them write ten bad articles – the eleventh one might be quite good. And I would like to be able to pay them at least small fees. In addition, the design of the site will change – I will try to diversify the content. Of course, vocabulary and presentation of materials will also change, so that no expert will be able to do anything. I will make the most of the gained experience.

- And do you, by the way, still have access to your own site?

- Of course not! But the investigators, KGB agents, experts have access... Well, whatever will be revealed – I have nothing to do with it. On the other hand, the investigator, you know, has been studying my site so carefully that he has surely got inspired – so now, of course, anything could be expected from him.

- Recently, you have said that the first article will be dedicated to memory of Pavel Sheremet. Did you meet him when you were in Ukraine?

- Yes, but unfortunately, only once. He invited me for a cup of tea. And I regret that I spent only five hours with this remarkable person. Moreover, his phone was often ringing – he was simultaneously helping some Belarusians, who appeared in a difficult situation in Ukraine. Then I found out that he was providing help to all Belarusians who asked him to, and especially to soldiers of “anti-terror” operation. He was helping despite of his own excessive busyness. Although we were unacquainted with each other before my arrival in Kiev, Pavel Sheremet supported me even before criminal proceedings. It's an online community, and he was “retweeting” my posts. As I did not know anyone – neither journalists nor politicians – I was very pleased that Sheremet supported me.

- During your studies at the faculty of history, you wrote a thesis on special services. Which ones?

- Actually, I did not finish that thesis. However, from the third course I was working on the history of special services operating during the World War II. I have been studying the intelligence services of the Soviet Union and its allies, as well their largest security operations and so on.

- When you faced with Russian and Belarusian special services yourself, did you have associations with your diploma? Did you recognized their methods?

- Methods in their nature are everywhere the same: deception, replay, exploitation. They were and will be always applied, they exist since the ancient times. Work of the security services is always based on human psychology: they promise something – and you are caught on a hook. A person in a difficult situation believes in everything. Then they can easily take advantage of you.

- Are manners of communication of the FSB and the KGB different?

- Firstly, the operatives were working with me. Their methods of work are everywhere the same. One operative in Bryansk presented me a list of 20 items that wait for me in prison. Nasty man. I even thought about running away: there was a proper moment at the train station when I was left with a napping cop. I was thinking: I will run – let them catch me. They will not shoot me as they do not have a right – I was not under convoy yet. However, I did not have sufficient time for it… Later, at the pre-trial isolation center, some women were working with me – just imagine – mild women. All operatives were the same, no super-professional psychologists were among them. As for the KGB agents – yes, they were visiting me even in the mental hospital, when I was passing the examination.

But more than anything, I was surprised by the disparity of expenditures. I spent $15 on domain and $25 on hosting. In total - $40. On the other hand, all these courts, convoys, wiretapping, investigation, operational activities – cost crazy money! They have their own atmosphere, each structure has its own environment which cannot be understood for those who don’t work there. Moreover, security officials are afraid of each other, they “whistle-blow” and implicate each other. In their understanding, this is a healthy competition. A normal person that gets there will also start operating under this system’s laws and will make terrible, from the human point of view, things. On the other hand, this person will be considered a good worker. This is how they ease their consciences: although our action are evil and despicable, we are good employees. They can put together a criminal case or the prosecution for nothing – for them, this will be a certificate of professionalism, not of the arbitrariness. Concepts of morality and justice are not present in such systems.

- When you were arrested in Russia, the online community believed that you were enticed to move from Ukraine to Russia

- It is very close to the truth. I cannot tell everything yet. I'll tell you later, when I manage to figure some things out. But actually it was a trap. When I was trying to beat the FSB, I was saying that my site was created by the Belarusian secret services and that I was a KGB agent, and, in general, my task was to meet and monitor the Belarusian opposition activists. I criticized “The Charter”, “Radio Svaboda”. And then they were trying to recruit me as a KGB agent.

- Did they offer you money?

- It did not come to that: they realized that I was lying.

- And why did not you try to appeal against the extradition? Indeed, in Russia, no criminal case was brought against you. Hence, it was possible to get out of the jail there.

- Despite of the fact that Russian pre-trial isolation centers offer significantly better conditions, I wanted to return home. Later, when I was in Zhodino prison, they asked me: “Why are you smiling?” And I was smiling simply because I heard the guards talking outside the door. They were talking rubbish, but with Belarusian accent „trasianka”. I was so happy to hear that.

- Did books help you to survive this all? And, by the way, are prison libraries different in different detention facilities?

- A big advantage of a jail at the Valadarskaha street is the fact that books can be exchanged there. At the same time, in Zhodino, it will be very good if at least once a month you will be able to change your book from the prison library – and only after you submit a special application. A prison reading is always the same: today Dontsova, tomorrow Victor Hugo, the day after tomorrow – “Gone with the Wind”. But in Russia, I could come across the unexpected books. In Bryansk, I found the edition of a “Liberal Club” – a book about the benefits of liberal economic reforms. Even our university library did not offer such books, and there is such a large-scale structural study.

- Did prison give you anything?

-Perhaps, yes. Well, of course, I am glad that it lasted for only nine months, however, I managed to took a lesson from it. The first two days in prison is a real test for a person. Moreover, when you are in prison with a businessman, a car mechanic, or a truck driver – you get to know their whole world. Such a mini-school. I stayed with the businessman, who was transferred to the detention center at the Valadarskaha street after one and a half years of stay in the KGB jail. Apart from the “economic”, by the way, there a lot of brave and principled people. My cellmate was in prison with Chyzh and Yaprintsev. He spoke enthusiastically about Yaprintsev: he said that he was respected by his cellmates. When Yaprintsev was released three days before the trial of this businessman (my cellmate), he promised, “I will come to you to the court within the three days”. And, in fact, he came, although he certainly had something to do after a year in jail. The attitude towards Chyzh, according to my cellmate, was poor both from the side of prisoners and from the side of prison staff. Even they could not understand how one could denounce his own partner, with whom they baptized their children together. He was not even angry, probably, but just puzzled: how dare he?

- Why did you decide not to hold a press conference and reveal the incognito, when you were released from the mental hospital after the examination? Then, perhaps, it would not come to the flight and everything that followed it.

- When I was detained, I could not believe that it was because of the blog. In my view, it was an absolute nonsense. Especially because it was a few months before the election. At first, I thought that maybe they are looking for weapons or trying to uncover the nationalistic underground. Then, to my surprise I realized that it was happening because of the website. Initially, I expected that they would stop everything at the stage of investigation in order to avoid noise – at this time, most political prisoners were released, while I was prosecuted for the second time. But I do not like the standard moves. Therefore, I preferred not to reveal incognito and to go to Ukraine and continue my work on the site. You wanted to close it? No, it will work.

- You have lived in Ukraine for five months. How big is the difference between Ukraine and Belarus now?

- In Ukraine, I missed the Belarusian tidiness, and here, in Belarus, I miss the Ukrainian freedom. If we combine our tidy streets and Ukrainian freedom – we will get an excellent country. Although, of course, any freedom is better than any non-freedom. I was in Zhodino jail with a Ukrainian. He said: “I used to be critical of the Ukrainian reality, but now I think that Ukrainian mess is better than your tidiness. Previously, when I was I coming to Belarus, I liked your clean streets very much.” Ukrainians have their own problems: Maidan was made by the elite, and many people went to the volunteer corps. Someone died, someone is still fighting. And the rest was not brave enough to finish this all. And now there is a real Hetmanate, with kings in each region. But the Ukrainian politics – is a completely separate concept. One needs to live there for years to understand what is happening.

- And was there a moment during that time when you were really scared?

- In Bryansk, at the moment of detention, I felt that the bottom was falling out for me. In fact, historians have easier: they always remember that once things were even worse. And after you read Varlam Shalamov, you will think: we didn’t get to the point of cannibalism yet – hence, everything is good enough.