Belarus frees jailed opposition leader, 13 others after visit from U.S. envoy
Belarus freed top opposition figure Sergei Tikhanovsky and more than a dozen other political prisoners Saturday following an appeal from the White House, Tsikhanouskaya's team announced on Saturday, a sign of warming ties between Washington and Belarus-ally Moscow. The release came just hours after retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, President Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, the highest-profile visit of a U.S. official to the authoritarian state in years. Tikhanovsky's wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who took the mantle of the opposition movement after her husband's jailing, thanked President Trump directly for brokering the deal.
Lukashenko's spokeswoman said the Belarusian leader had ordered the release of the prisoners on Mr. Trump's "request," Russian state media reported.
Mr. Trump appeared to take credit, writing "Thank you President Trump!" on his Truth Social platform, alongside a link to a news story about the prisoner release. European politicians and members of Belarus's exiled opposition also welcomed the news. "This is fantastic news and a powerful symbol of hope for all the political prisoners suffering under the brutal Lukashenka regime," European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X. "Europe continues to call for their immediate release," she added. Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski expressed his "sincerest joy," while Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics called Tikhanovsky's freedom a "much awaited and long overdue moment." German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul welcomed Tikhanovsky's release as "fantastically good news," in a post to X. "At the same time, we must not forget the many other prisoners in Belarus. Lukashenko must finally release them," he added. Pavel Latushko, a former culture minister in Belarus who supported the 2020 protests against Lukashenko, also hailed Tikhanovsky's release as an "important moment". Tikhanovsky, 46, had been imprisoned for more than five years. The popular Youtuber had planned to run against Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election, but was arrested and detained weeks before the vote. He was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for "organizing riots" and "inciting hatred," then to another 18 months for "insubordination." Svetlana — a political novice at the time of her husband's arrest — ran against Lukashenko in his place but lost after what the opposition described as widespread falsification. She later fled Belarus. "It's hard to describe the joy in my heart," she said in a post on X following her husband's release. Among the 13 others freed were Radio Liberty journalist Ihar Karnei, arrested in 2023 and jailed for participating in an "extremist" organization.
They have now been transferred from Belarus to Lithuania, where they were receiving "proper care," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said. Though none of the released prisoners needed emergency medical assistance, "one of them needed emergency medical attention" as "they were imprisoned in difficult conditions," Budrys told the LRT public broadcaster, without elaborating. Swedish-Belarusian citizen Galina Krasnyanskaya, arrested in 2023 for allegedly supporting Ukraine, was also freed, said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has outlawed all genuine opposition parties. It is the only European country to retain the death penalty as a punishment. The eastern European country still holds more than 1,000 political prisoners in its jails, according to Belarusian human rights group Viasna. Since taking office, Mr. Trump has engaged in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, ending his predecessor's policy of isolating the Russian president. The two nuclear powers have since worked to normalize diplomatic ties, which have for years lingered at their lowest point since the Cold War.
In February, a U.S. citizen who had been detained in Belarus was one of three prisoners freed into U.S. custody. Chris Smith, deputy assistant secretary for Eastern Europe, said at the time that the deal was negotiated by Belarusian authorities and signaled a desire by Lukashenko to have a stronger relationship with the U.S.
And in January, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Belarus had "unilaterally" freed an American woman from detention.
Tikhanovsky was for years held incommunicado, and in 2023 his wife was told that he had "died." In a video published by Viasna on Saturday, he appeared almost unrecognizable, his head shaven and face emaciated. A charismatic activist, Tikhanovsky drew the ire of authorities for describing Lukashenko as a "cockroach" and his campaign slogan was "Stop the cockroach." Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in the 2020 election, a result that sparked massive opposition protests which authorities violently suppressed. The Belarusian autocrat claimed a record seventh term in elections earlier this year that observers dismissed as a farce.
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