February 13, Pozirk. The United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the release of an unjustly detained US national and two Belarusians, calling for the release of all people held in Belarusian prisons on politically-motivated charges, according to his statement released yesterday.
The official praised US President Donald Trump’s “strong leadership” and thanked the Lithuanian government and US diplomats in Vilnius for cooperation in securing the release of former RFE/RL journalist Andrej Kuźniečyk, activist Alena Maŭšuk and an unnamed US citizen.
Washington remains committed to the release of other imprisoned US citizens both in Belarus and other countries, Rubio stressed.
As of February 16, Belarusian human rights defenders identified at least 1,228 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.
