– I lived with the fear every day. This is what Natallia Pintsjuk says, as she walks with news in a dark spring forest somewhere in southern Norway. – The first time in this country, I still had the fear with me. But fortunately not anymore, she says, with a small smile on her face. Natallia Pintsjuk is married to Ales Bjaljatski, one of the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022. Chairman of the Nobel Committee Berit Reiss-Andersen hands over the Nobel Peace Prize to Natallia Pintsjuk on 10 December 2022. Photo: Rodrigo Freitas / NTB He could not come to Oslo himself to receive the award because the authorities in his native Belarus, formerly known as Belarus, imprisoned him in the summer of 2021. They believed he had smuggled money into the country to organize illegal demonstrations, charges both Bialiatski and his supporters believe are fabricated. In Norway, until further notice Natallia Pintsjuk had a meeting with her husband in prison on 10 November 2022. In the short conversation, which took place under strict surveillance, she got a clear understanding that it was good that she could go to Oslo to receive the award. But he did not want her to return to Belarus, because he did not know what the authorities might do with her. Therefore, Natallia Pintsjuk has remained in Norway, under the protection of the Norwegian authorities, until further notice. Now she lives in a secret place in southern Norway, while at the same time she tries to draw attention to the situation of her imprisoned husband. – I am here based on my own situation, my own health, says Natallia Pintsjuk. I don’t know how long I will stay here, she tells news. Natallia Pintsjuk meets news at a secret location in southern Norway, due to her lack of confidence. Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news Where is Ales Bjaljatski now? Byalyatski is, according to his wife, now on what is called an stage, a transfer from a prison in the capital Minsk to a column, a prison somewhere out in the province of Belarus. – During this period, through our lawyer, we have no contact with him, and I am personally very afraid of what is now happening, says Natallia Pintsjuk to news. Natallia Pintsjuk says she will stay in Norway until further notice. Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news She says that there are plenty of stories of physical abuse and very bad conditions for the inmates precisely when they are on “stage”. Pintsjuk has received several letters from her husband in prison, in which he can only write about “harmless things”, such as things that happened in his childhood or completely everyday things in prison. She gets the letters sent to her phone, from the one lawyer who works for Ales Byaljatski inside Belarus. Natallia Pintsjuk has received several letters from her husband in prison, sent via the lawyer to her phone. Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news On 3 March, Ales Byaljatski was sentenced to another 10 years in prison, which could mean that he will remain in prison until 2031. By then, the Belarusian human rights activist will be 69 years old. Back in 2011, he was sentenced to six years in prison, following similar accusations of tax fraud. At the time, there was a strong movement, both in Belarus and internationally, to set him free. And to the surprise of many, it happened after he had served three years in prison. Natallia Pintsjuk and Ales Bjaljatski have been together for over 40 years. Photo: Privat Thorn in Lukashenko’s side From 2014, Natallia Pintsjuk and Ales Byaljatski could once again live a fairly normal life in their apartment in the center of the Belarusian capital. But little has been “normal” in their lives after Ales Byalyatski, since the 1990s, has been at the center of the effort to restore the Belarusian nation, and not least the Belarusian language. He has been a thorn in the side of the country’s dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has been in power ever since he won the presidential election in 1994. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in Moscow on May 9, 2023. Photo: AFP After the presidential election in August 2020, large demonstrations broke out across Belarus, but with the support of Russia and President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko was able to ride out the storm by, among other things, by arresting most of the leaders of the opposition. Another 10 years in prison On 14 July 2021, it was Ales Byalyatski’s turn, at the same time that the human rights organization he has led for many years, Vyasna, was also banned and its offices closed. As a result, he could not travel to Oslo himself to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2022. On 3 March this year, Ales Byaljatski received a new sentence of 10 years, formally for having smuggled money into the country and for having financed groups that disturb the public order. – He keeps his hands behind his back all the time, says Natallia Pintsjuk, when together with news she looks at the pictures from the cramped courtroom in Minsk – It’s about them wanting to show that the fact that he has received the Nobel Peace Prize does not affect the harsh conditions of his sentence fall under, says Natallia Pintsjuk. . Ales Byalyatski during his trial on March 3, 2023. These are the last photos available of the Belarusian human rights defender. Photo: AP The courtrooms are filled with plainclothes police. Natallia Pintsjuk believes that the explanation for the fact that most of the benches at the back of the courtroom are filled with young men with short, well-coiffed hair is simple: – It is because others should not be able to get a place in the room, and those sitting there are apparently plainclothes police officers. Almost none of Ales Byalyatski’s supporters were allowed to enter the courtroom on March 3, 2023. Photo: AFP And the repression in Belarus continues in full swing. On 3 May, the journalist Roman Protasevicj was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Roman Protasevich photographed after he was arrested in May 2021. Photo: AFP Protasevich was literally kidnapped when a Ryanair flight in 2021 was forced to land in Minsk. – What is happening in Belarus right now is sick. Everyone is worried about their loved ones, says Natallia Pintsjuk, even in the safety of a secret place. in Norway.
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Received the Nobel Prize – chose to stay in Norway – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
