Svetlana Alexievich: Statkevich Is A Very Strong, Beautiful Person

No one can take away our right to live in our own country.

On September 13, Berlin hosted a public meeting with two Nobel laureates - co-founder of the Russian "Memorial" Irina Scherbakova and Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, reports Deutsche Welle.

The Nobel laureate commented on the act of Belarusian opposition leader Nikolai Statkevich, who refused to leave Belarus:

It is known that on September 11, 52 political prisoners were released from Belarusian prisons. Among them was Nikolai Statkevich, who refused to forcibly leave Belarus. Commenting on this event, Alexievich says that "here we are dealing with a political juggler":

- He (Lukashenko - ed.) needs to lift sanctions, to travel to Europe, and so he goes for such a deception: he releases 50 people, but imprisons another 100. Nobody really releases these people: if they are released, they are immediately deported. So is this a release or a new torture? I think it is a new torture.

Alexievich said that she understood what Nikolai Statkevich wanted to say by his action:

- We should not give in again, so that someone decides for us where to live: in our homeland or in a foreign country.

But the writer believes that one should not demand the same courage from others.

- Statkevich is a very strong, beautiful man. But it may not be possible to demand such strength from all people who are in prison," Alexievich said.

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