Darya Chultsova at PRIX Europa: 'Years of imprisonment is the price you pay for telling the truth.'
Belsat TV journalist Darya Chultsova, released on September 3 after two years in a penal colony in Belarus, was honored at the PRIX Europa-2022 festival in Potsdam. She was awarded along with Katsyaryna Andreyeva a year ago, but she was only able to receive her statuette now – two months after leaving Lukashenka’s prison.
Belsat journalists Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova were nominated for the PRIX Europa award in the journalist of the Year category by Polish Television. They were sent to a penal colony by the regime for their work. The initiative of Polish public television received broad support from the region’s journalistic community. Almost two hundred media representatives from Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine signed the candidacy.
Online transmission from the ceremony is available here.
– It is a great honor to be here today – not only for me but all independent Belarusian journalists. As you know, I should not be standing here alone. My friend Katsyaryna Andreyeva is still a hostage of the dictator’s regime established in my country. They said clearly that they had me released only because I’m a young journalist and, in contrast to Katsya, my work wasn’t too harmful to them. She was always at the heart of the action. She was always reporting the truth and that is why the Belarusian dictator took revenge. This is the price of telling the truth. Eight years. But I am convinced that no matter how much time she spends behind bars, she will finally do amazing things thanks to this painful experience. But before it happens, I will do my best to work for both of us.
Like in the movies
– I learned about the award while in prison – during a meeting with my mother. Since Katsya is not with me now and cannot receive the award, I do not know if I will be able to enjoy as everyone says and want me – said Darya a few hours before the ceremony.
She recalls that in prison, she could not feel the joy of the award because she was in a confined space and everything outside did not exist. ‘It was like watching a movie,’ she added.
During and between interviews with journalists, Darya smiles constantly, but it is a sad smile: in interviews, she always thinks about Katsya.
– It would be wrong to say that I deserved it: I was just doing my job, says Darya. – All these awards are to speak louder about the fact that we have a problem. I am happy about these awards, but only to make my voice louder, to shout louder that our journalists are in prison, that Katsya is still in prison, she adds.
Asked by our journalist on the eve of the festival if she felt popular, she replied that it was not about popularity but solidarity.
– People who recognized me in Belarus did not run up to take pictures with me. They would come up and tell me that I was a hero to them. They asked if they could hug me and if they could support me in some way. One gentleman handed me a rose and said it was the least he could do for me, she explained.
PRIX Europe is the largest festival on the continent, where programs, projects and films produced for television, radio and online media compete in nine categories. Since 2017, the festival’s jury has awarded prizes for ‘Journalists of the Year.’ According to Katja Wildermuth, the general director of Bavarian Radio, the award is given to individuals who ‘demonstrate exceptional creativity and courage in making a significant impact on society or audiences in their respective countries.’
Katsyaryna Andreyeva was transferred to a detention center in February of this year after the KGB opened a criminal case against her for high treason. On July 13, she was sentenced to eight years and three months of criminal imprisonment by the Homiel Regional Court based on a fabricated case. The trial was held behind closed doors and its details are unknown. On August 20, a higher court rejected the appeal and confirmed the verdict.
Katsyaryna Andreyeva was again sent to the female Penal Colony No. 4 in Homiel, where she will spend the next eight years. She is one of 1,335 political prisoners of the Lukashenka regime.
lp/ belsat.eu
