June 22, Pozirk. Siarhiej Cichanoŭski, pardoned yesterday after high-ranking US diplomat Keith Kellogg met with Alaksandar Łukašenka in Minsk, has asked US President Donald Trump to help secure the release of all political prisoners in Belarus.
One word from Trump may be enough to help liberate more than 1,170 people imprisoned in politically-motivated cases, he has told journalists in Vilnius at a joint press conference with his wife, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.
Łukašenka pardoned Cichanoŭski, one of his main opponents, and 13 other prisoners in exchange for a meeting with Trump’s envoy, she noted, adding that her team is now working on the release of another group of prisoners.
Apart from Cichanoŭski, the group of 14 regime critics released yesterday includes former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Ihar Karniej, prominent linguist Natalla Dulina, anarchist activist Akichira Hajeŭski-Chanada, dual Belarusian-Swedish citizen Halina Kraśnianskaja, businessman Siarhiej Šelieh, opposition activist Kirył Bałachonaŭ as well as Estonian Allan Roio and Latvians Jurijs Gaņins and Dmitrijs Mihailovs. Warsaw also confirmed that three Poles were freed.
Cichanoŭski and several others were immediately taken to Vilnius.
Police arrested presidential hopeful Cichanoŭski two months before the 2020 election, as his sharp-edged campaign was gaining momentum and threatening to sweep Łukašenka from power.
In late 2021, he was given 18 years in prison on several criminal charges, including organizing mass riots, inciting hatred and interfering in elections. Two years later, authorities added 18 months to his term for alleged misbehavior. Rights groups considered his persecution to be politically motivated.
Cichanoŭski had been held incommunicado since early March 2023.
