Catholic blogger and family man Ihar Losik remains imprisoned in Belarus, more than three years after being arrested for criticizing the country's regime.
Before his sentencing, Ihar Losik wrote to Pope Francis asking for his prayers and support, for himself and other political prisoners.
Mr. Losik, 31, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2021 after a five-month trial. He joins some 1,400 other political prisoners in the country, many of whom are reported to have been subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including torture.
In the letter he wrote to Pope Francis in August 2021, Mr. Losik described the despair he experienced in prison, to the point of considering and attempting suicide. He undertook two hunger strikes in prison and was only allowed to see his wife once and his young daughter not at all.
"Threats were made against my family, against my two-year-old daughter, these people have nothing sacred. They decided to finish me off. They left me no choice but to prove my innocence posthumously. I tried to slit my wrists," he told the pontiff.
"Fifteen years in prison for nothing, without seeing my daughter, is worse than death." "I am not asking you to plead on my behalf. I ask you to defend goodness, truth, and justice, for thousands of Belarusians who have despaired in identical and even worse situations," he continued.
"I ask Your Holiness to call on these terrible people who do not care about the lives of others, about hundreds of grieving families, to stop... Perhaps I am too naive, and this letter will never reach you. Nevertheless, I write it sincerely and from the bottom of my heart. I believe I am writing it for a reason. I truly want to believe that God has not abandoned us, that this senseless cruelty will cease, that no one else will die and that everyone will return to their family."
Deniz Yuksel, advocacy manager for Washington-based RadioFreeEurope/Radio Liberty, told CNA that Losik wrote the letter at a time of great despair in his life, while being held in torturous conditions in a pre-trial detention center. She added that he was clearly convinced that Pope Francis could do something for him.
"As a devout Catholic, I think he believed Pope Francis was someone who could support him, both morally and as an advocate," said Ms. Yuksel.
She added that she did not know for certain whether Mr. Losik had ever received a response, or if a response had reached him. Mr. Losik has been in solitary confinement since February, and only second-hand information attests that he is still alive. Yuksel said there have already been periods without contact during his imprisonment, but this one is the longest.
To make matters worse, Losik's wife, Daria, was also arrested in October 2022 and is currently serving a two-year prison sentence. Their little daughter, Paulina, lives with her maternal grandparents and has not seen her father.
"I am very worried that she will forget me or even forget the word 'daddy,'" laments Mr. Losik in his letter.
Mr. Losik worked as an independent social media manager, commentator, and news analyst for Radio Svaboda, the Belarusian service of RadioFreeEurope/Radio Liberty, a U.S.-funded news organization that broadcasts primarily in countries of the former Soviet Union where press freedom is restricted.
Radio Svaboda operates from Prague and Vilnius, Lithuania, and broadcasts its programs in Belarus through various media. As a journalist, Mr. Losik covered human rights violations by the government, in the interest of democracy. His use of the Belarusian language was in itself subversive, as the country's regime has sought to sideline the language in favor of Russian.
He was arrested in June 2020 and subsequently tried on charges widely believed to have been fabricated by Belarusian authorities, including incitement to hatred, "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order," and "preparing to participate in riots," RFE/RL reported. Mr. Yuksel indicated that several other RFE/RL journalists have been detained in recent years, including the editor of the Radio Svaboda website, who is also detained and in a similar situation, serving a sentence in the same prison, as far as is known.
"The vast majority of independent Belarusian media are now completely closed or operating outside the country," noted Mr. Yuksel.
Belarus is essentially ruled by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been at the head of the country since the creation of the civil service in 1994. He clung to power after a disputed presidential election in August 2020, in which he claimed to have won 80% of the vote. Lukashenko's power rests primarily on the loyalty of the country's security services.
Belarus is closely linked to its ally, Russia, and has provided vital support to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. According to press freedom monitoring groups, the country has a dismal human rights record and alleged dissidents are frequently detained.
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Tensions between the Belarusian government and the Church reached their peak during the major crisis following the disputed 2020 elections, when former Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, president of the country's conference of Catholic bishops, was barred for a time from returning to Belarus after a trip to Poland; the reason appears to be that he defended protesters during the post-election crisis. Kondrusiewicz was eventually allowed to return to the country after a four-month exile and submitted his resignation shortly thereafter, on his 75th birthday.
That same year, two Catholic priests, Father Viktar Zhuk, SJ, and Father Alyaksei Varanko, were detained for several days in northeastern Belarus, as part of a campaign of intimidation against the Catholic Church, according to observers.
Despite the clashes, the Belarusian government has repeatedly invited Pope Francis to visit the country.
This article was originally published in English by Catholic World Report (Article link). It is republished and translated with the author's permission.