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Only Fools Support the Lukashenka Regime

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Only Fools Support the Lukashenka Regime

Alexandra Herasimenya vs Blue-fingered.

In her interview to Charter97.org Studio X97, the famous Belarusian sportswoman, two-time world champion, repeated Olympic medalist, director of the Sport Solidarity Foundation Alexandra Herasimenya commented on the scandals with Belarusians at the Olympics, the attempt of forced return of Krystina Tsimanouskaya to the country, as well as the political situation in Belarus and the possibility of the imminent collapse of Lukashenka's regime. The host is Jauhen Klimakin.

- Hello! Alexandra, I guess you are following the Olympics?

- Yes. I try to watch, follow the developments. But I can't follow all the sports, of course.

- But I think you follow your discipline. Because I remember the times when Belarus won medals, especially the swimmers, with your involvement. What went wrong this time?

- Again, it's difficult for me to say what went wrong, why our athletes failed to win medals. But I can say Illia Shymanovich had a chance to get a medal. I think we should ask Illia and his coach what went wrong. As for Anastasia Shkurday's medal - it was a 50/50 chance. She is young, has no experience in an international environment and competitions. These Olympic Games are the first for her. Of course, it's very exciting. And I consider her performance quite successful. There probably could have been a medal. However, stars should align, and she had to perform in a way that fits within the medal ranking.

- Alexandra, we will return to the Olympics and the sports topic. But there is one piece of news that shocked everyone. We are recording an interview on the day when the news about the death of Vitaliy Shyshov, the head of the Belarusian House, who was found hanged in Kyiv, appeared. Does such news make you lose heart or clench your fists and realize that you have to fight this regime and push it hard?

- Such news is sad. However, it certainly doesn't give me a chance to put my hands down. You realize that you can't give up because there will be more such news. As many things depend on you, of course, you can't give up. You have to keep fighting and motivating people not to give up too.

- Going back to the Olympics. A story that is currently on the news all over the world - Krystina Tsimanouskaya and the attempt to bring the athlete forcibly back to Belarus. What do you think about it?

- I would like to say that this is a result of the rotten system that functions in Belarus. There are no professionals in top positions, so the work is clumsy. One cannot say that it was a minor blunder. The federation's failure to monitor doping samples of its athletes resulted in such an international scandal that a female athlete expressed indignation at the fact that she, an athlete competing in a certain event, had been placed in an entirely different event, without even being notified of it.

The point was not even that she had been placed. If somebody had explained the situation, told her what, how and why, I don't think she would have reacted so strongly and said it all on her Telegram Channel. I guess everything could have been resolved peacefully. But our authorities decided the opposite: to cover their guilt and put it all on the athletes who have been preparing for the Olympics for at least the last five years, who were on their way to the start, their race. It's so easy to wipe their feet and make her guilty of the situation. I consider her right.

- Tsimanouskaya was right not to return to Belarus, as her superiors demanded?

- I think after this event when she went to the police and the consulate, it's certainly not safe for her to return. We know the price of the regime's words and what may await her now in Belarus.

- Yury Moiseevich is the head coach of the national athletics team. Do you think he is the culprit for inflating the situation and making it absurd, or is he a puppet in this game?

- I believe the decisions were taken at a higher level. No one will do anything without an order from the top. They know if they do something wrong they will be punished. Undoubtedly, their decision was completely wrong and illogical. They could have solved everything in a week and put an end to the conflict, and everyone would have forgotten about it. The Belarusian team leaders are to blame for the international scandal. And we realize that they smeared their name, following unnecessary order but also made their future professional career impossible.

- I think, Alexandra, you must have heard this tape recording of the conversation between the bosses and Tsimanouskaya, these hints of suicide. In principle, this story showed the attitude towards athletes as subjects, as slaves. Was there such attitude when you were active in sports?

- I can say that in Belarus such an attitude is the norm. You must do this and that. Even if you look at those who stay in charge. A man who used to be in the state security, in the military structure, now runs sports. Accordingly, he manages in the same manner: there is a regime, there is an order, you must comply with it. That's it! No steps to the right or to the left. If you have a medal, if you're successful, you are given the chance to be creative, to change things. If you don't or haven't yet had any successes, then you must follow a strict regime. One must control you.

"You must" is the key phrase still used in propaganda today. You owe the country everything. I was born there. It's the same if parents say to their children: "I gave birth to you - now you owe me". Excuse me, for whom did you give birth?

Now let's go back to the situation with the athletes. For whom did you raise them? What was it all for? For the country, for the country's image. After all, we perform not so much for ourselves, but for the country, for its image. We represent the face of Belarus. Hence, Belarus itself needs it more. An athlete does one's best on the track, in the swimming, the jumping. One sacrifices one's health. Therefore, it is unprofessional to say that an athlete owes something. This approach causes the death of sports in Belarus, unfortunately.

- I wanted to ask how the situation affects sport.

- We used to win 20 medals at the Olympics. Now we are falling back and falling apart. At the moment, we have only two medals. There may be some more, or maybe not. We understand the level to which we have fallen in the last 16 years. What does it mean? That there is no sports development in the country. There are practically no team sports because it is very expensive to maintain them. And those athletes who are supported on a point-by-point basis are still, quite possibly, real. That is the result.

These Olympics have shown that sports do not exist in the country, and it will continue to die out. And those who are now still trying to support the regime, believe they will get support, continue their sports careers. Forget it, in a year there will be no money for anyone, even for the medal-winning athletes. You will simply be kicked out of national teams. For some reason, everyone believes one needs them. It's a lie. One only needs dignity and the retention of power in the country. I do not know what for, that is another question.

- Do you feel the regime is weakening or not?

- It's already falling apart. There's no control in all sectors, even in that environment, which seems quite reliable - the military, the security services. There's such a mess that it all is about to collapse. It brings harsher repressions against everyone who disagrees. People are being jailed not for a committed crime but for the possibility of committing it. We see the level.

The authorities are so afraid of people who have an opinion that they are already jailing them for an alleged possible crime. How can we say that everything is fine in Belarus when the authorities are afraid of everything? And the sanctions imposed on Belarus are working. The effect is just not as fast as we would like it to be. So we should just chisel and chisel so that we could finally see a free Belarus and return home.

- How should we do this? After all, the methods of an open struggle accepted in the civilized world, when people go out to peaceful protests, which we saw last year in many cities of Belarus, not only in Minsk, have terminated now. What possible ways of struggle do you see in the near future? What tools are left?

- In any case, no one will protest openly now. It's not safe if you're in the country. Again, support initiatives, write letters, write appeals, support foundations, individuals, political prisoners, demand their release in some international structures. It does not bother anyone. It is quite safe if you keep your electronic devices safe. So all this helps, and those who are already abroad should work on international sanctions. It will work.

- There is an opinion among athletes who are not as famous as you are. They say: Herasimenya, Levchenko, Snytina have medals; the world knows their names. They could and can earn good money, while we are ordinary athletes with no particular achievements. What would you say to such people?

- Here is an interesting point. Why do they risk more than we do? We're deprived of the advantages that we have in Belarus. We lose everything that we have achieved. I am not only talking about financial benefits, but also general ones. We lose everything we have in Belarus. First of all, the opportunity to live in our country, to openly express our position and openly fight against the regime. All those words that someone can, and we have a family, credits, flats and so on are excuses.

I consider this an excuse. No matter what kind of athlete you are, no matter what level you have, and it does not matter whether you are an athlete or not - what matters is what kind of person you are. We observe the situation at the Olympic Games now. We have seen those who signed the letter of free athletes. We have seen the support of people even if they were not medal-winning. After all, they remained with the people who supported them. Those who win medals. Yes, they have medals. It's great. It's their success, and no one devalues it. But those athletes do not care about people. That's the point. That's why I think it's more of an excuse. There can be lots of them.

- Some stick to the opinion that it is still not appropriate for athletes to compete under the red-green flag, because thus you are defending not so much the country of Belarus as the regime. What do you think, should athletes compete in international competitions now?

- Let's dwell on the Olympic Games and performance under the red-green flag for now. Look. Of course, the situation in Belarus is now very difficult, very unstable, and what is happening is of great concern to athletes and, in general, all people. But athletes have been preparing for the Olympic Games for 5-10-15 years. In order to perform and swim, run, jump, compete for a place in the final, for prizes, in general, just for the result.

It is now impossible to compete under a different flag at the Olympic Games. Impossible, because it is not registered and thus will not be admitted to the Olympic Games. Accordingly, the athlete had to either give up their dream, the opportunity to perform, give up their real work, which they had been doing for many, many years, or perform under the red-green flag, but at the same time clearly expressing their position. After all, in fact, it doesn't matter what flag you are competing under, I mean purely visually, it doesn't matter if it is green, red, white, yellow, or blue. The main thing is what position you have inside, what you adhere to and why you do it. That's all.

- How do you feel about those athletes who actively support and defend the Lukashenka regime?

-Basically, I divide such people, not only athletes, but in general, all those who support the regime, into two categories. Either they are just fools and do not understand the situation in the country, or they have certain benefits from this support: scholarships, bonuses, pensions, positions, whatever, which is why they support the regime.

- And who do you think there are more: fools or crooks who get their profits?

- As I see it, of course, there are more, as you put it, crooks who want to get certain benefits. But, of course, there are those who absolutely do not understand the situation, who are like: "Ay, I don't care, I will adhere to this position." Why? How? They won't even be able to explain.

- How is the criminal case in general? At what stage is everyone? We heard the accusations against you this year.

- So far, no one gives any information. We do not even have a simple order for our arrest, our lawyers are not admitted. Therefore, so far, the matter has not moved from the point.

- Do you see yourself in the future in free Belarus as a politician?

- Oh, No. What does politics really mean? We are now undergoing a substitution of the concept that sport is out of politics, and we are now in politics. Of course, now everything is in politics. Every Belarusian is now in politics, absolutely everyone. Whether they want it or not, they are now in the process, which is taking place in Belarus. Maybe I will be in some sector that will defend some rights of athletes, make proposals. I do not rule this out. But to say that I will participate in some election campaign, some such processes - no, I have my own activity, my own direction, I want to develop my club, my sport, work with children. And I am more interested in this, so I am here fighting for my rights and for the rights of Belarusians in order to be able to develop in my country.

- What does the Sports Solidarity Fund do now?

- All the same that we were doing before - defending the rights of athletes. At this stage, we are dealing with the case of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, her performance at the Olympic Games and the violation of her rights, respectively. Plus, we are now actively preparing for the Freedom Marathon, which starts on August 7, and we call on everyone to take part in it, every Belarusian, and not only to be in solidarity, because we are running for each other. This is a kind of roll call - how many of us are there, where we are. And there are actually many of us, and we will win.

- There is such a point of view that athletes and security officials are the most cautious people, because they are most dependent on government funding. The Belarusian revolution showed that athletes opposed the regime in large numbers. In the ranks of the military, in the ranks of the security forces, there were also cases, there are many of them. But still we did not see it happening massively. Why?

- Good question. I don't even know, to be honest, how to answer it. But again, maybe due to the fact that we are athletes - we understand the essence of struggle, we understand what gives the result, we understand that one cannot conquer alone. In order to achieve a result, you must have a team, you must have a coach, doctor, psychologist, massage therapist and many, many people who help and accompany your result. Therefore, we understood that, uniting, we are a greater force than alone. Perhaps in the power structure they were afraid, they did not know the opinion of another person. Elementary, they did not have a letter initially, as we did, which immediately determined you that you are with us, that you demand the same as we do. This helped us to unite and make a massive protest on the sports part.

- I want to quote you. Last year you posted on Instagram: "In August 2020, all events were divided into before and after, the world into black and white. Each of us had to make a choice which way to go." It's already 2021. Have you ever regretted that you took this path, that you opposed this regime?

- No. Of course not. I then said that as soon as I made the decision to express my position, my opinion against the regime, I felt relief in my heart. After all, this relief determines that you made the right choice. And this relief does not let me go. If I had kept silent, if I had not expressed my position, I would still have driven myself into such a hole and I would definitely not have avoided depression. Therefore, no matter what the current situation is, no matter what sad news happens, I understand I had chosen the right path.

- And the conscience is clear.

- And the conscience is clear, of course.

- You are an athlete. You know how to win. Share with us the recipe for victory. What is necessary? What steps need to be taken? After all, the mechanics of victory are the same in sports and in life. What do Belarusians need to do to win?

- I have always said that belief in success is 90% of success. If you do not believe, no matter how you prepare, no matter how well you are trained and no matter how the stars position themselves, there is always something that will prevent you from winning. Therefore, the main thing is to believe in your victory. The second is the team that surrounds you and helps you achieve your victory. You need to believe in your team, of course. And the third is work, this is work to the maximum. To the maximum, on the verge of their capabilities. Without this, there will be no result. Combine these components - and here you go, the result is obvious.

- What if faith disappears, if people become discouraged, if they doubt?

- Again, to be discouraged at some point, to doubt somewhere is normal, I mean, everyone goes through such things. After all, even great athletes who achieve success, how many times have they failed? The same Michael Jordan said: "I messed up, messed up, messed up again, and finally reached the peak of my career." That is, not due to victories, not due to some of his winnings, but due to his failures, he reached a higher level. Accordingly, it is normal to be sad, upset at some point. The main thing is not to give yourself the opportunity to fall into this despondency, into despair, but to understand that this is just a stage, you need to step over it, and then everything will be fine.

- Will victory be ours?

-Definitely. Victory will be ours.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

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