The red-lipped, white-haired, leather-jacketed Maria Kalesnikava cuts a memorable figure in old photographs, resembling a punkish Marilyn Monroe.
Instead of finding fame over a subway grate, however, the Belarusian-born flautist and political activist garnered a reputation both in orchestras abroad and on the picket line at home, attempting to fight for fair and equitable elections in her native country.
But Kalesnikava’s younger sister, Tatsiana Khomich, told Euronews that the guards at Correctional Colony No 4 in Gomel are trying to convince the 41-year-old political rights activist otherwise. According to Khomich, those running the southeast penal colony are saying Kalesnikava has been erased from public memory — that no one cares about her or her story.
“When Maria asked, ‘Where are my letters? Where are my communications and packages and phone calls?’ She was told, ‘Everyone forgot about you,’” Khomich explained.
“It’s very important to spread the word about Maria. To share the truth about her and the conditions — and that she’s dying of hunger in the centre of Europe.”
Life before detention
In 2020, Kalesnikava, already a renowned flautist in Belarus and Germany, headed up the campaign for the assumed opposition leader Viktar Babaryka.
However, Babaryka — a former banker and philanthropist — was arrested before he could take on leading the opposition and barred from running in the country’s controversial presidential elections against decades-long authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko.
The autocrat’s sixth term in office, now spanning three decades, was met with violent protests and a brutal crackdown on political dissent. An estimated 35,000 people were arrested. Many, including European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, described the election as fraudulent and called for the immediate release of those incarcerated.
Babaryka, Kalesnikava and some 1,400 other political prisoners currently languish in Belarusian penal colonies and prisons in the aftermath of these elections.
According to a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report published in April, Belarusian detention centres, prisons and penal colonies are the sites of various human rights violations, such as torture and gender-based violence.
In April, Babaryka was reportedly hospitalised as a result of beatings. Days later, the EU diplomatic service EEAS stated it was “concerned” with his deteriorating health and reiterated its demand for the release of all political prisoners, including Babaryka.
It has been four years since Kalesnikava’s arrest and sentencing — charges over 20 human rights organisations describe as “bogus”. While the institutions may firmly have their eyes on Babaryka, Khomich advocates for her sister.
Kalesnikava’s situation keeps getting worse
Over the four years Kalesnikava has been detained in Gomel, Amnesty International alleged she has been “ill-treated” by the penal colony administration and that her health has deteriorated.
Khomich told Euronews she personally witnessed this decline over the monitored 10-minute, bimonthly video calls.
“In one video call she looked very strong, but at the same time there were small changes in her behaviour,” said Khomich, a former business analyst turned full-time human rights activist.
“Maria has lost a lot of weight and now she weighs 45 kilograms,” having lost at least 20 kilograms since her arrest, Khomich added.
This communication was severed, however, when Kalesnikava was moved to a “punishment-type cell” in mid-March. The Minsk-based Viasna Human Rights Centre states those detained in these cold, dark rooms are only allowed basic necessities — such as a toothbrush and bar of soap — and live in total solitary confinement.
“Conditions in the punishment cell are very harsh and can be classified as torture,” Viasna said online.
Khomich says her sister is not allowed to read books, consume news or speak to her family or lawyer. Her daily exercise consists of 30-minute walks in a “small” enclosed area.
“You cannot see the sun or the sky,” Khomich explained. The only way Khomich can hear news about her sister’s condition is by whispers from recently released inmates living in disparate pockets of Europe.
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Human Rights Watch stated last year that in 2022, Kalesnikava was admitted to the intensive care unit of Gomel’s emergency hospital and received surgery for a perforated ulcer.
Khomich says her sister looked “very, very” sick in the photographs released by Belarusian authorities of this time. In the photos purporting to be Kalesnikava in Correctional Colony No 4, her hair is dark, she looks thin, and is being attended to by a nurse clad in protective gear. Now, “I believe now she looks even worse,” Khomich said.
What’s next?
Khomich’s relationship with music has changed due to her sister’s 11-year jail sentence. Whenever she visits an orchestra with a fleshed-out flute ensemble, she cries as it reminds her of Kalesnikava. “It is painful,” Khomich said.
But instead of letting the melancholy consume her, Khomich used these feelings to advocate for Kalesnikava’s release. According to her, putting pressure on European countries and leaders to orchestrate back-door or public prisoner swaps will guarantee this outcome.
Lukashenko’s recent pardoning of 30 prisoners convicted for taking part in the 2020 political protests has given Khomich optimism.
“For a long time, it seemed impossible for people to be released from political prisons,” she explained. “It also gives hope that there will be an end to the deadlock and this process can be prolonged and at some point Marie also will be released.”
Allies in other corners
Inna Kavalionak leads the advocacy platform Politzek — an organisation created in 2020 spurred on by the presidential election and the repression that followed. The organisation’s raison d’etre, according to its website, is to ensure political prisoners are not forgotten while lobbying for their release.
The former theatre producer turned professional activist met Kalesnikava in 2018 in Minsk, prior to their careers taking political pivots, Kavalionak told Euronews. Her first impression of Kalesnikava was that she was very bright, “like the sun going into a room,” Kavalionak said.
Years later, the duo joined Babaryka’s campaign efforts, which is where the “activism all started,” she added. After the election, Kavalionak — like thousands of other Belarusians arrested for participating in the presidential election protests — was detained by national authorities. While she was released, Kavalionak was eventually forced to flee Belarus, remaining abroad to this day.
Four years on, Kavalionak believes it’s her job to ensure the futures of those unlucky to escape. “Their deaths are happening already in the colonies. We should focus a lot on the people,” Kavalionak said. “It depends on us.”
Despite the EU, the US and other Western allies refusing to recognise Lukashenko as the country’s president, the Belarusian mainstay dubbed “Europe’s last dictator” confirmed he would pursue another term as leader at the 2025 presidential elections.
In February, the 70-year-old told Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA he would “do it the way it should be done” for the eastern European country.
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Even if it appears that there is no light at the end of the democratic tunnel — with staunch opposition figures like Babaryka imprisoned and others thrust into oblivion or exile — Kavalionak said Belarusians maintain hope that one day the country will host free and fair elections.
“Even though there are no protests on the streets in Belarus, it does not mean people are not resisting,” she concluded.
