One of those who decided to stay after the crackdown in Belarus was recently handed a five-year sentence. From the Belarus Press Club.
Transitions note: With so much attention devoted to Ukraine these days, the plight of the hundreds of political prisoners in Belarus tends to be overlooked. In the coming days, we will share a few of their stories.
The Belarusian journalist Iryna Slaunikava was detained in the Minsk airport on 30 October 2021 as she and her husband returned from a holiday in Egypt. At first they were both sentenced to 15 days in jail for allegedly saving “extremist” material on Facebook.
On 26 November 2021, Slaunikava was charged with the criminal offense of “organization and preparation of actions blatantly harming the social order.” In April 2022 a new charge was added: “leading an extremist group.”
On 3 August 2022 the Gomel regional court sentenced the journalist-turned-political prisoner to five years’ imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony.
Her husband and friends recount Iryna’s story.
Aliaksandr Loika, Iryna’s Husband:
It is hard for me to pour my heart out about Ira, because I’ve been disappointed in a lot of things and people lately. My position is that nothing is being done to solve the problem of political prisoners – the thousands of broken Belarusian lives. I have one task: I want to get my wife out of jail and take her away at any cost.
In general Iryna is in a good way. She is always full of life, upbeat. She’s had several visits by family members. The hardest thing is the pain of lost time. A person lives an active life for 15 years, but then, 10 percent of their life is simply taken away from them for nothing. We traveled a lot, went diving together. And suddenly this time, which she could have spent with her dearest ones, was taken from her. This, of course, she regrets.
We have been together for 22 years. We were never apart for more than a week. I haven’t seen her for a year already. My wife is 52 years old; in five years, she will be 57. What is she in jail for? For whom?
She and I discussed the idea of leaving several times prior to her arrest. Her position was, “Why leave if we haven’t done anything?” Moreover, we have elderly parents in Belarus. Besides, what is there to do overseas? You can’t take all your old life with you, everything you’ve built for yourself. Of course, if we had imagined that it would all turn out like this, then we would have left. But we were just picked up at the airport.
Ira was imprisoned, I was imprisoned, and then kicked out of the country. I left so as to not create unnecessary problems and hassle for my parents in case I was arrested again. I was in Ukraine, met with war there, and then moved on. Maybe I have too negative an opinion, but for almost a year I was traveling alone, traveling to different countries, talking to different politicians, organizations, diplomats – and I didn’t see any result. Often I don’t even get an answer, including from people who personally know Ira, and some “politely turn me away.”
How I see the solution to the problem now is bargaining, though no one wants to go there. But I think what is most important is getting Belarusians out of jail in any way possible.
In my view, the most effective thing the press can do now is to influence politicians who have the power to decide something. They also often speak of “petitions for clemency.” Many would have written them, but there is no kind of surety that if they go through this humiliation, something will change. They [political prisoners] do not write petitions because they let almost no one out – there is no such trend.
Ira doesn’t get all the letters. Even those from relatives they pass on very selectively.
Galina Ulasik, Friend and Fellow Journalist:
Iryna and I got to know each other when we were in our first year at Narkhoz, now BSEU [Belarus State Economic University]. We were in different faculties but ended up in the same circle. She was hard not to notice: Ira is stylish and always wears bright colors. In terms of her character, she is a very open, friendly, and dependable person.
If you need her help, Ira will not hesitate. You don’t even need to ask her – she will offer it herself. Moreover, she is determined, tough, and true to her principles. She is also unbelievably brave in making decisions, in her acts. It happened that after university we began to talk even more. We went to relax together, raised our children together.
We got into journalism by accident. We had the good fortune to meet Tatiana Ivanovna Melchinuk; many independent journalists can call themselves her students. She was the editor in chief of the newspaper Belarusian Youth (Belorusskaya Molodezhnaya), where Ira worked as an accountant. When Ira left on maternity leave, it was suggested that I take her place. But I didn’t work as an accountant for long: Tatiana Ivanovna “turned” me into a journalist, and then Ira, too, when she returned to work.
After the newspaper closed, Ira quit journalism and then came back. She worked in print and electronic media. Over time she became a great professional, a great editor. Many people who worked with her say so.
It seems to me that Ira is good at anything she takes on. She loves and knows how to cook, and it’s a pleasure to visit her. She made my daughter’s New Year’s Eve outfit when she was little. She knows how to knit and scuba dive. She also loves to travel and knows how to organize trips for perfectly sane money. Thanks to this skill of hers, we’ve been to Mexico and Hainan Island in China.
She and I talked about leaving the country several times, but she stayed. Why did she stay? I think she believed too much in human decency and common sense. And that a profession is not a reason to put a person in jail.
Anastasiya Rubanava, Editor of Novychas.online:
I have known Ira Slaunikava for a very long time: I calculated and was surprised myself – 28 years! In 1994, the newspaper Belarusian Youth was created after the radio station of the same name closed. I came there as a journalist, and Ira as an accountant. Ira has always been very sociable, and immediately fit into our motley journalistic environment.
After the birth of her son, Ira returned to the newspaper, but the accountant’s place was occupied, and she gladly accepted the offer to try her hand at journalism. I don’t remember there being any topics that she refused. We went down to the Soligorsk mine together, and roamed around the “forgotten villages” (that was our project), and even made a playful review of condoms. Ira is a “universal soldier.”
Slaunikava is our brightest light. Her peculiar way of speaking, her trademark laugh and humor – it is impossible to imagine [Belarusian] Youth without all this. And then, when we all ran away to different jobs, albeit remained as a circle of friends, Ira maintained this atmosphere.
I respect her very much for her professional path. It is fair to say that she made herself, thanks to incredible efficiency and self-organization.
In general, Ira is a person who knows how to live beautifully, in the usual sense of the word. And sometimes you envy her in a good way. Everything is somehow arranged for her;there is order in the house and at work, whatever she planned worked out. Ira has impeccable taste and the desire to create beauty and comfort around her. She is a wonderful hostess, loves to cook different dishes, knit. She is fond of yoga (“You know, I just did a couple of asanas while working – and it feels good!” she would say).
And, of course, travel and cats. Moreover, for her, travel is not going to collapse somewhere on the beach. Ira and her husband are fond of diving; they even have special suits for it. Well, cats are another major topic.
Unfortunately, letters only reached Ira during the early stage of her imprisonment. Now she does not receive correspondence from relatives. But we regularly receive “greetings” from her. So, we feel a connection with her for sure.
I think, no matter how it sounds, the women who found themselves in the cell with Ira were lucky in some sense. She is definitely not going to let them or herself lose heart.
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This story was originally published by the Belarus Press Club. Reprinted with permission. Translated by Alastair Addison.
