Larysa would have been happier staying in prison for the final four months of her sentence if she could have gone home at the end of it.
Instead, she was bussed over the border from Belarus into Lithuania with 51 other political prisoners. They were released in September as part of a deal to relax sanctions hatched between Belarus's authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko and US President Donald Trump.
During the three years she spent behind bars for extremism and discrediting Belarus, Larysa Shchyrakova missed her mother's funeral. Now, she cannot visit her grave.
She left behind her son, her home, her dog, and all her possessions. Like most of the freed prisoners, Larysa has no documents and risks arrest if she returns.
You lose everything overnight. It's a traumatic thought that at 52, you're essentially homeless, she told the BBC.
In reality, she had no choice. Veteran opposition politician Mikola Statkevich got off Larysa's bus and refused to cross the border. He has not been heard of since, and it is assumed he was sent straight back to jail.
Mikalai Dziadok, a 37-year-old activist, spent five years behind bars and was marked with a special yellow tag, which meant tighter control and harsher treatment.
Dziadok recalls how for months he was placed in solitary confinement with prisoners on both sides shouting insults and threats to rape, kill, and dismember him.
They banged their bowls against the wall for hours, day and night. They wouldn't let me sleep; it was impossible to read, write, or even think, he told the BBC.
Solitary confinement is routinely used in Belarus as punishment against political prisoners for petty violations, such as not greeting the guards loudly enough. It is a way authorities put psychological pressure on inmates, say human rights groups.
Dziadok is sure the prisoners were acting on orders from the guards, aiming to traumatize them as much as possible so they could not take part in political activity in the future.
Another political prisoner released in September, Dzmitry Kuchuk, said when he was in a solitary cell, the guards would torment him by falsely saying his mother had died.
Larysa Shchyrakova was never placed in solitary confinement but has shared how her experience has shaped her adjustments to life in Lithuania, where the expat community has offered significant support.
More than a month after her release, she has finally been reunited with her 19-year-old son, finding solace amid the brutal legacy of her imprisonment.
