Culture

'My first impression was it's hell' — Belarusian prison memoir brings attention back to Lukashenko's repressions

In a Belarusian prison, it's a simple note — "We are with you" — hidden inside a chocolate bar from a volunteer aid package that can move political prisoners to tears. In their tightly monitored environment, where isolation itself is a form of punishment, such gestures take on an almost sacred significance. Hanna Komar's memoir "When I'm Out Of Here: Staying Human in a Dictator's Jail" details how these fleeting acts of solidarity become a means of holding on when living in an authoritarian reg