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“Barico is alive!”
These were the words of Viktor Babaryko’s team after seeing the first images of the Belarusian opposition politician imprisoned for more than 630 days.
Arrested in 2020 when he tried to run for president against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Babaryko was then held in solitary confinement as an additional punishment.
His political team described the period without contact or information about him as “torturous”.
In a newly released short video, Babaryko is filmed sending greetings to his family. There are also three photos, one of which shows him writing a letter, apparently to relatives as well. It is unclear exactly when the photos were taken.
Dressed in a black prison uniform, the former banker has lost a considerable amount of weight since his arrest.
Other high-profile political prisoners have also been held in solitary confinement in Belarus, including Maria Kolesnikova, who was part of Babaryko’s 2020 presidential campaign team until her arrest.
He then became one of the leaders of the mass protests that broke out after the election, which the EU said was rigged to keep Lukashenko in office.
Last November, similar images of Kolesnikova were suddenly released as she was allowed to visit her jailed father for the first time in more than a year and a half. He has not been heard from since.
In both cases, the photos and videos were posted by Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, which had a large following during the mass protests of 2020.
In 2021, a Ryanair flight to Belarus was diverted and forced to land due to a fake bomb threat.
The former activist was later released from prison after a public apology and is now cooperating with the authorities.
In a short video she posted along with photos of Viktor Babaryko, she said the prisoner “looked good”, was happy and that the two chatted, joked and “even laughed” together. Babaryko has no comment for himself.
Photos of the former presidential candidate have surfaced shortly before Belarus’ next election on January 26. This time, no real opposition candidate has been accepted at all.
Prominent political prisoners are reportedly under pressure to seek an official pardon for Lukashenko before the vote so that he can be released and appear merciful.
It is also possible that the images of Viktor Babaryko in prison are intended to remind Belarus of the enormous danger of open opposition.
A dozen or so significantly fewer people have been fired in recent months, but others have been quickly arrested to replace them.
The human rights group Viasna currently estimates that there are 1,258 political prisoners in the country.
Among the big names who have not yet been seen or heard from for many months is Sergei Tikhanovsky, the political activist who was arrested in 2020 and whose wife Svetlana ran for the election on his behalf.
Opposition leader, forced into exile, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told the BBC this week that the upcoming presidential vote was a “sham” and a “performance” for Alexander Lukashenko to extend his power.
