[ad_1]
Olga Kovalkova, or Volha as she says when I ask her about the spelling of her name, Olga is the Russian transcription. So I keep calling her Volha Kovalkova. Initially she intended to stand in the Belarusian elections, but instead joined the campaign of Svetlana Tichanovskaya and is now a member of the transitional council formed after the elections in Belarus on August 9.
– We won on August 9, now it is a matter of defending our victory, he says.
I have two options
Two weeks after the elections, he participated in a demonstration at a tractor factory. She was jailed for organizing the protest and sentenced to ten days in prison. It was extended to fifteen days until she was given two options: stay in jail for a long time or leave the country. She chose to leave.
– One night they came to my cell, put on a hat and a mask and took me to the border with Poland. The next day she appeared in Warsaw.
– We urge the regime to start talking to the people, not fighting it, he says now, when he has temporarily come to Stockholm to speak with Foreign Minister Ann Linde, among other things.
– European countries must condemn the violence perpetrated against peaceful protesters and political prisoners must be released. It is not normal to have political prisoners in a country in central Europe.
“People have woken up”
I ask him if he has seen and what he thinks of the meeting between Russian President Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. Her only comment on this is that neither she nor others are afraid of anything and that she urges others not to be afraid either.
– If Putin entered Belarus with the army, it would cost him too much both in reputation and in prestige, he says.
– Belarus will never be the same as before, because people have understood that they can and should govern their own country. People have been politically awakened.
– I finally wonder when you can go back to Belarus.
– Soon, he says and forms a heart with his hands on his chest. She laughs at first, but her eyes are sad.
– I hope it’s very soon, he says later.
