Political Prisoner Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk's Story: Her Sentence Term Was Extended Three Times

• 30.10.2024, 16:15

The last verdict was delivered on October 15.

"Belarusian Jeanne d'Arc" Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, who at the first hearing in her case called the court "Stalin's troika" [made up of three officials who issued sentences to people after simplified, speedy investigations - Ed.] and refused to stand before the judges, has been behind bars for almost four years. After the initial two-year sentence, she was tried three more times – each time adding a year. The last verdict was delivered on October 15. Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk went through torture, a punishment cell, and psychiatric examinations. Why are the Belarusian authorities so afraid of her?

Journalists of the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty talked with her husband and friends.

"Captured on January 3"

"I will testify only in the International Criminal Tribunal against Lukashenka," said Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, an activist of European Belarus, in the court of Brest on June 7, 2021. She was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code – "Violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies" (Art. 364), "Insulting the President" (Art. 368) and "Insulting a representative of the authorities" (Art. 369). According to the case file, the victims were seven police officers.

“For how long are you in custody?” the judge asked at the beginning of the hearing. "Captured on the third of January," she replied.

On that day, January 3, 2021, police officers broke into the house of Sharenda to conduct a search. Palina's husband was detained a few days earlier, he was in a pre-trial detention center. The woman refused to open the door – but the enforcers broke in, and Palina was arrested. The reason was a video on Telegram, where the activist, using obscene language, called the police officers who detained her husband, fascists and punishers.

During the investigation and in court, Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk refused to testify, stressing that she does not recognize the court: "Political repression has nothing to do with justice."

At that time, Palina was sentenced to two years in prison. Soon she was sent for a psychiatric examination, which showed that the accused has no deviations and does not need treatment.

After that, the activist underwent similar examinations three more times. Many times Palina got into punishment cells and PKT (a cell-type room with a more strict regime of detention). As of April 2023, Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk had spent more than 180 days in these cells. For some time, she was deprived of food parcels, and the necessary medicines. According to her husband, Palina is still deprived of it.

Twice – in 2022 and 2023 – the activist was added one year of imprisonment for allegedly disobeying the prison administration. According to human rights activists, she became the first Belarusian woman against whom this article was applied.

In 2024, when her sentence was about to end, Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk was featured in a propaganda film on Belarusian television. However, she was not released.

On October 14, the fourth trial of Palina began in Rechytsa: Judge Stanislau Ivaniutenka, who had previously sentenced her, added another year to her sentence.

Belarusian human rights activists recognized Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk as a political prisoner.

Palina continued to fight for her rights even behind bars despite unbearable conditions and pressure. When she had the opportunity, she transmitted reports of violations of her rights through her lawyer. In the summer of 2023, Palina went on a hunger strike, which ended a week later, as her demands for more humane conditions were reportedly met.

Palina's husband Andrei says that she does not tolerate lies and cannot put up with injustice, that is why she suffers in prison.

“Rebellion is in her blood,” says Andrei Sharenda. "Someone says that Palina has a fiery temper. And it seems to me that this is a typical feature of Belarusian women – most real Belarusians have a spirit of freedom, a spirit of will. Maybe this is due to the many wars that took place on the territory of Belarus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, when men were exterminated, and women continued their struggle. We see this in the examples of Emilia Plater, Larysa Heniyush, who are symbols, life guides for Palina."

"I can't say that our children have lost hope, but they no longer believe anyone"

Andrei Sharenda is living in Lithuania with his two sons. In 2020, he spent more than 70 days under arrest for participating in protests after the presidential election. In 2021, on May 31, he was detained for an interview that allegedly contained "calls for actions detrimental to national security" and "insulting Lukashenka". At that time, Palina was already behind bars, and Andrei, who was in the care of two minor children, was placed under house arrest. He managed to escape abroad.

"For almost four years in prison, Palina was not allowed to make a single call [to her relatives], she did not hear her children, did not see them," Andrei says. "Palina is a wonderful mother, and this is a blow below the belt for her – to know nothing about her children. I am so envious when I hear from other political prisoners that they can see children through video calls, talk to them. We've never had that before.”

For more than six months, Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk was incommunicado – no messages or letters in and out. For a mother, this is the biggest test when she does not know what is happening to her children, her husband Andrei is sure.

"The Lukashenka regime achieved its goal with these tortures – they managed to make a video with Palina. It is not clear exactly what the conditions were and under what pressure she agreed for it,” says Andrei Sharenda.

The Lukashenka regime releases videos with the participation of political prisoners from time to time. At the same time, shooting with a hidden camera, editing are used. The conditions in which prisoners are forced to talk to propagandists are unknown. Sometimes after publishing such films, convicts are released. But this did not happen to Palina, although her sentence term was to expire this year.

The eldest son of Slavamir-Vitaut Sharenda is 15 years old, this year he entered a lyceum in Warsaw. The youngest, Stach, is eight years old and attends school in Vilnius.

“The most difficult thing for me is not just to explain to my sons where their mother is, but when she will come back. We have already waited three times that it was about to... This summer, when Palina was to be released on May 21, the children were already dreaming of a vacation together. It was a real shock for them when she was not released. I can't say that our children have lost hope, but they no longer believe anyone, even me," Andrei says. He says that the eldest son reacts very painfully. Junior also began to understand that it was not some evil uncles who took his mother, but the system.

“There was a period when Stach began to forget his mother, she became blurred for him, lost connection. It was very painful,” Andrei admits. "Now, fortunately, the youngest son himself began to be interested in his mother, says that he is waiting for her very much, loves her, asks to play videos with her."

It is a real tragedy for Palina not to see her children grow up, says a family friend, journalist Andrei Leuchuk:

“We, friends, were the last to see Palina free. They came to them on January 2, 2021, and Andrei was already arrested. The youngest child, Stach, told us, “Look how beautiful our Christmas tree is!” The next day, Palina was also detained. And the children did not disassemble that Christmas tree until the summer – they say, our mother will come back, then we will remove it. But in the summer, Andrei and the children had to flee."

Andrei Sharenda says: when their first son was born, Palina decided to choose a name on her own.

“I had to give in. She was choosing for so long. She settled on a double name – Slavamir-Vitaut, a combination of modernity and antiquity. True, Palina also chose the name for our youngest son. His name is Stach. Palina is a very responsible mother, she always cares about her children and their health. And how delicious she cooks! Palina, however, is the best mother in the world!" Andrei is convinced.

Palina's husband says that he is very grateful to his mother-in-law Vera: she took care of all the hassles of transmission and parcels for Palina: despite her venerable age, she travels from Brest to Homel and Rechytsa once a week.

“There was so much weight on her shoulders! It's impossible to endure. I had to leave, and taking care of Palina fell on her. Hundreds of trips, gathering parcels and packages... She is a very strong and persistent person. And an incredibly educated, intelligent woman," emphasizes Andrei.

From the Young Front to the Parliament

Palina and Andrei met in the late 1990s, when the activist headed the Brest branch of the Young Front.

“For the first few years, we were just acquaintances. Palina from time to time supplied us with "means of struggle" – paint, leaflets. We started dating seriously in 2005," recalls Palina's husband.

In 2006, they entered the initiative group of the opposition presidential candidate Aliaksandr Milinkevich. In March, Andrei and Palina went to the center of Minsk to the so-called Kalinouski Square, where activists pitched a tent city in protest against the falsification of the presidential election.

In addition to their social activities, they were united by their love of nature, says Andrey. They began to go together for mushrooms, hiking. Gradually, common interests and friendship grew into love. Andrei and Palina got married in 2009. At first, the couple lived with Andrei's parents, they had a separate room.

“When we started living together, I had to completely rebuild my life, because Palina is so neat! The house has always maintained perfect cleanliness, so that everything is in its place, so that there is not a single speck of dust,” Andrei recalls.

In 2017, the family actively opposed the decree on "parasites", for which Andrei was detained twice (he served 30 days).

In the 2019 parliamentary elections, Palina became a candidate for deputy from the European Belarus Civil Campaign, but after a TV address, Sharenda-Panasiuk was removed from the elections.

"We often staged daring actions, once decorated the Brest Fortress with White-Red-White flags," journalist Ales Leuchuk recalls the late 1990s and the Young Front. "Palina always went to the end like a tank, never stopped and was uncompromising. She initially stated that the Lukashists are enemies, we cannot negotiate with them. In 2019, when she was elected to the House of Representatives, her speech on television was vivid – she openly called Lukashenka a dictator. "

Palina is a historian, she graduated from the University of Brest, but, according to her husband, she worked in a Belarusian-language school for only a year as a teacher.

"In the late 1990s, Lukashenka's system began to destroy everything Belarusian. The Belarusian-language school where she taught was closed, and Palina could no longer work in the education system,” says Andrei Sharenda. "Then she studied at the University of Warsaw as a political scientist, received the L. Kirkland Scholarship. She defended her Master's thesis, in recent years she worked as a tutor of the Polish language and history."

He adds that Palina read a lot – at any free minute. Every month she went to the regional library.

“She picked up a whole stack, a half-two dozen books. She mainly read historical literature. But her hobby is science fiction. She re-read all the classics of science fiction,” recalls her husband. "She watched historical and sci-fi films and TV series with interest. Palina could support a conversation on any topic, because she had read thousands of books. She has a powerful intellect.”

Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk also reads a lot behind bars. In 2021, the former political prisoner Hanna Vishniak was with Palina in the same detachment of the Homel Women's Prison No. 4.

"Palina spent all her free time with books – although she was not allowed into the library, they still gave books to her. I saw her with books in Belarusian, with the works of Svetlana Alexievich. But she did not like to watch TV and TV shows," Hanna recalls. "In the prison there was a criminal Alina, who was imprisoned not for the first time, but she had a small child, so she was kept in the prison for those who were convicted for the first time. This woman didn't even have a basic education. So Palina seriously studied the Belarusian language with her, dictated tasks and helped with homework. And they were training not for 5–10 minutes, but for one and a half to two hours every evening when the rest were watching TV."

Hanna Vishniak notes that Palina was very supportive of her in the prison.

"When I was first brought there, Palina was standing with Katsia Andreeva [a political prisoner of the Belsat TV channel Ed.], and the three of us were summoned for questioning by the Chief named Zbarouski. I didn't know anything about Palina then, but since she was with Katsia, I realized that she was ours! I was very depressed, confused, and Palina waved at me. She often helped me with smart and balanced advice,” recalls Palina's former cellmate.

In the spring of 2024, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called on Belarus to take urgent measures to protect Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk.

In July, relatives learned that Palina had been diagnosed with moderate chronic pancreatitis. Recently, the husband of a political prisoner reported a sharp deterioration in her health.