Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenka released 123 prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski and Maria Kalesnikava, in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Belarusian potash. Nine of those released were taken to Lithuania, and 114 to Ukraine.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka has released 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and opposition activist Maria Kalesnikava. The release took place as part of agreements with the United States. This is reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
Details
The United States agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash – a key export commodity of the country. In exchange, Lukashenka released 123 prisoners. This was the largest release of political prisoners since the start of negotiations between Minsk and the Trump administration this year.
According to Trump's envoy, John Cole, there are still about 1,000 political prisoners in Belarus.
If there were no political prisoners left, most sanctions could be lifted. I think this is a fair deal
– said John Cole.
Nine of those released were taken to Lithuania, and 114 to Ukraine.
Ales Bialiatski, who has been in prison since July 2021, according to Reuters, said that the goals of the human rights struggle for which he and his campaign colleagues received the Nobel Prize have not yet been achieved.
"Thousands of people have been and continue to be imprisoned. So our struggle continues," said Ales Bialiatski.
Meanwhile, Maria Kalesnikava, a leader of the mass protests against Lukashenka in 2020, was among many people who were bused to Ukraine.
Of course, this is, first of all, a feeling of incredible happiness: to see with your own eyes the people dear to you, to hug them and to understand that now we are all free people. It is a great joy to see your first free sunset
– she said after her release.
The Belarusian opposition in exile thanked the United States and stated that the release of prisoners in exchange for concessions on potash demonstrates the effectiveness of sanctions. At the same time, they insist that EU sanctions should remain in force.
The United States stated that it is ready for further diplomatic engagement with Belarus to release the remaining political prisoners. According to the human rights group "Viasna", there were 1227 political prisoners in the country before the release.
Recall
On July 27, 2020, Belarusian human rights activists recognized six more people as political prisoners. These are people deprived of liberty for "insulting the president, government officials (police officers), judges and desecrating state symbols, as well as using other permissible forms of expressing opinions," the Viasna human rights center informs.
