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MINSK, 20 August (BelTA) - I hope I will have the opportunity to make up for lost time, Olga Novikova, who was among those pardoned by Aleksandr Lukashenko for protest activities in 2020, said on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA learned.
"I felt like a prisoner, a convicted person. Not ‘political’. I was a convicted person as everyone around me," she shared.
The woman did not know that she was on the lists of political prisoners compiled by those who are abroad. She was not interested in this topic. "I have no kept any contacts with these people. Therefore, whether they are worried or not is not so important," she said. “The most important thing is the moral and emotional state of my family. That's the only thing I care about."
When asked whether she got any postcards from the opposition, Olga Novikova said that she received postcards only from her mother, sister and close relatives.
The woman noted with confidence that she was ready to seize the second chance that the president gave her. She also dismissed the opinion that those released will immediately flee abroad as a stereotype. "I see a lot of prospects here. I studied, worked, put a lot of energy and effort here. Therefore, it will be too hard for me to lose it all and start again," she argued. "Therefore, I hope that I will have an opportunity to stay and quickly make up for lost time, increase my potential and my capabilities."