Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today, Ihar Losik is spending his 33rd birthday in complete isolation. More than 800 days have gone since he received a phone call, letter, or visit. A man who once was a voice for thousands of Belarusians now remains in total silence. Precisely because he knew how to speak in a way that people listened.
Ihar is one of those journalists who, with a smile on his face, persistently pursued truth, transparency, and justice – despite threats and danger. He explained, joked, criticized, and inspired, doing so with a rare blend of precision and irony. The regime considered all this such a great threat that it not only deprived him of freedom but also did everything possible to erase him from the public space. To silence his voice.
But even Ihar’s silence speaks today. We – all who read his writings, listened to his thoughts – remember. We recall his sharp observations, his ability to see what mattered, his devotion to the truth. I know many people today are thinking: ‘What would Ihar say?’ That means – he is with us. Despite all the regime’s efforts to cut him off from the world.
It is heartbreaking that his daughter Paulina is growing up waiting for her father to return from a place where he never should have ended up. It’s an unimaginable ordeal for any family. When I speak with my children about Siarhei, I see in their eyes a pain that only reunion with a loved one can heal. And I deeply hope the Losik family will be reunited as soon as possible.
Ihar – like Siarhei, like Viktar, Masha, Maksim, Mikalai – remains imprisoned. But we are free to speak about them.
Write. Speak. Remember. As long as our hearts are with the political prisoners – no prison can break them”.
