Natallia Radzina: For Your, Our Freedom!

The editor-in-chief of Charter97.org has expressed solidarity with the journalists of Radio Svaboda and Voice of America.

The US is cutting off funding to Radio Svaboda (RLE/RL) and Voice of America. This comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order cutting seven federal agencies.

Natallia Radzina, Charter97.org's editor-in-chief, has spoken out in support of her colleagues:

‘In connection with closing Radio Svaboda, today I'm thinking first of all about its two employees from the Belarusian editorial office - Ihar Karnei and Ihar Losik, who are in prison in Belarus. I can imagine the chiefs and guards of the colonies where they are being kept, gloatingly informing them that their radio station, for working for which they were imprisoned, has been closed by the decree of the US President. And I can understand what shock and despair they feel.

When I myself was in the KGB prison, the worst thing for me was not the arrest or being charged under Article 293 of the Criminal Code (up to 15 years of imprisonment). The worst thing was that after my arrest and the smashing of the editorial office in Minsk, the Charter'97 website stopped working. And what happiness I felt when the KGB investigator, apparently wishing to create an atmosphere of trust, let it slip out, saying: ‘Without you, Natallia, the site is not as it used to be’. That's how I learnt that some of my colleagues had managed to leave the country and the site continued its work. It was such a relief for me!

And today I want to express my solidarity with all my colleagues from Radio Svaboda and Voice of America, who are having a very, very difficult time. All of us, independent journalists, have been going through various trials for many years of our thankless job: prisons, forced emigration, constant lack of funding. This is a particularly difficult time. Yet, I am sure that this will pass. It is important to remember that we are doing very important work. And there will be support for this cause as long as people's aspiration for freedom is alive. And this aspiration will always be there.

To your and our Freedom!’

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