Interview with Ales Bialiatski’s wife, Natalia Pinchuk, September 2023 in Oslo, Norway.

Tell us about your husband, Ales Bialiatski, and his work. 

Natalia Pinchuk: Ales has always been a supporter and a strong believer of human rights and freedoms, and the freedom of the country to choose its own path and independence.   

How do you think Ales would have reacted to the news of his Nobel Prize? 

Natalia Pinchuk: This news would make him very happy without any doubts, even though we haven’t observed this reaction ourselves. We know that this award is given only to special people in the world, and he would be very grateful his work has been recognised. 

What do you think the Nobel Peace Prize has meant for Ales and his work? 

Natalia Pinchuk: The importance of this award is that it supports not only the work of Ales as the of leader of the organisation. But also the idea that stands behind Viasna, that has been helping people to survive in the conditions of dictatorship, to be able to continue living and existing in this country.  

The importance of this award is also that it draws attention to the situation in Belarus. It gives a possibility to focus on the problems and thus maybe being able to solve the situation, with the common solidarity of countries in the world.  

What can we all do to help and promote democracy and freedom in the world? 

Natalia Pinchuk: This question requires a very wide and prolonged answer. I will try to answer it short. The first thing is that one needs to work with one’s own society and population and government. Because when the population – the civilians – understand the problems, they can influence the decisions that politicians are taking. These decisions are very important because they will provide the grounds for supporting peace in our unstable world. 

Attempts to send letters to Ales, and not only to Ales but to all the political prisoners in Belarus, is very important. It’s worth it, even though we know they probably don’t receive most of those letters. I know that Ales receives letters from his friends, from his acquaintances, or people he doesn’t know. The simple fact is, that these letters are a support. They pass through the hands of the people who work in prisons. They see that these letters are coming, and they understand that it’s a signal to pay more attention to what’s happening in their own country. 

What advice do you think Ales would like to share with young peace activists? 

Natalia Pinchuk: There is only one possible advice: it’s to do everything possible to achieve your own goal, to change the world to a better world without violence, war and terror. Unfortunately, this work requires very long-term investments. You need to equip yourself with patience to do enough and to reach the goal. It’s not safe, but it’s worth it.  

How can we maintain human rights for all? 

Natalia Pinchuk: I think this work, and I repeat myself, requires a very long-term investment. It’s a fundamental work. Human rights should be taught to children. The rights need to be known, just as they start comprehending the world around them. We would get a new generation which is born understanding human rights – that the right to be free is a fundamental right for every human being – and this could be a new generation of human rights defenders. It’s an ideal picture, but it’s a picture I would like to see and experience. I think it would be a chance to avoid a lot of problems in our society. 

Human rights should be the base when taking decisions in any sphere of the society or in any country, because it would give us the possibility to be careful when solving problems. In the case of Ukraine, we still have weapons that are sent to dictatorships and countries which are leading aggressive wars. We talk about business, which is ignoring human rights, and this is a very sad situation. But if we would take human rights into consideration, it will give us the possibility to support democracy.  

We need, first of all, to listen to human rights defenders, because they signal out the problems that exist in their countries. Other democratic countries would be able to make decisions based on these signals correspondingly.  

What gives you hope about the future? 

Natalia Pinchuk: I have a bit of a conflicted relation towards hope, because I try not to be too hopeful. Those two years that Ales was sentenced to, leave us in a quite hopeless situation. But when the life of a human is being stopped like that, it’s not that he stops existing. There is always a very small chance that something extraordinary can happen. This light of hope gives me strength to continue doing everything possible to change the situation for Ales and other political prisoners.  

We hope democratic countries will help to build democracy in the countries which are suffering from dictatorships. It’s always important to support the democratic inclinations of those countries that want to join the union of democracy. It’s very important, because when we look at the map, we can see that the democratic world is rather small. Democratic countries need to unite and support each other and also support countries that want to become democratic. 

Is there a message you would like to deliver from Ales? 

Natalia Pinchuk: Unfortunately, there is no information or message that I can deliver from Ales, because in his letters, he’s not allowed to mention anything other but describing his everyday life, and not even everything of it. The letters are just a sign that he is still able to write and that he still lives. I think that if Ales was able to, he would say: “Don’t be afraid. Continue fighting as long as you have strength for that.”

Watch the interview

Interpreter: Luba Khorava