{"id":154886,"date":"2025-09-11T15:15:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T12:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"belarus-frees-more-than-50-political-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus frees more than 50 political prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"744\" height=\"496\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/statkevich_744\u0445496.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/statkevich_744\u0445496.jpg 744w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/statkevich_744\u0445496-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n      <div class=\"block-image__descr\">\n\n        Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d\n    <\/div>\n  \n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>September 11, <em>Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>After today\u2019s meeting with John Coale, US deputy special envoy to Ukraine, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has pardoned more than 50 political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Belarusian ruler\u2019s press office said that \u0141uka\u0161enka pardoned \u201ca number of foreign nationals convicted of spying, participation in extremist and terrorist activities and . . . other crimes,\u201d noting that he did so at the US president\u2019s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those pardoned include 14 foreigners, including six Lithuanians, two Latvians, two Poles, two Germans, one French and one Briton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus\u0117da <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GitanasNauseda\/status\/1966096794472849875\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">said<\/a> on X that Minsk had released and sent to Lithuania 52 political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Viasna Human Rights Center said that veteran opposition politician Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d is among those freed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington is lifting sanctions on Belarus\u2019 Bie\u0142avia airline, Coale said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pul Pervogo<\/em>, a Telegram channel run by the Belarusian ruler\u2019s press office, has published footage from the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u0141uka\u0161enka credited Donald Trump with ending \u201cseven-six wars or conflicts\u2014it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d urging the US president not to give up on his peace efforts, \u201cespecially here in the region in the conflict of Russia and Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNaturally, we have a great interest in your global country in terms of the economy,\u201d the Belarusian strongman added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coale read out the US president\u2019s and his wife Melania Trump\u2019s birthday greetings to \u0141uka\u0161enka, noting that Donald Trump\u2019s signature \u201cDonald\u201d is a special sign of friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also taking part in the meeting were Christopher Smith, deputy assistant secretary for Eastern Europe; Valancin Rybako\u016d, Belarus\u2019 representative to the UN; and Committee for State Security (KGB) chief Ivan Tertel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier meetings between \u0141uka\u0161enka and US diplomats resulted in the release of several groups of political prisoners, including politician and influencer Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump expressed hope earlier this month that Belarus would free the 1,400\u20131,500 remaining \u201chostages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bie\u0142avia sanctions were imposed after Belarus\u2019 secret services hijacked Ryanair Flight 4978. Agents cited a false bomb threat to divert the passenger aircraft to Minsk and arrest opposition journalist Raman Pratasievi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incident has not been properly investigated because Belarusian officials denied international experts access to key evidence and witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The International Civil Aviation Organization Council determined that the bomb threat against Ryanair Flight 4978 \u201cwas deliberately false and endangered its safety, and furthermore that the threat was communicated to the flight crew upon the instructions of senior government officials of Belarus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs neither a bomb nor evidence of its existence was found during pre-departure screening in Athens, Greece, and after various searches of the aircraft in Belarus and Lithuania, it is considered that the bomb threat was deliberately false. Knowingly communicating false information which endangers the safety of an aircraft in flight is an offence under Article 1 (1) (e) of the Montr\u00e9al Convention,\u201d it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icao.int\/Security\/Documents\/Ryanair%20FR4978%20FFIT%20report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 11, Pozirk. After today\u2019s meeting with John Coale, US deputy special envoy to Ukraine, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has pardoned more than 50 political prisoners. The Belarusian ruler\u2019s press office said that \u0141uka\u0161enka pardoned \u201ca number of foreign nationals convicted of spying, participation in extremist and terrorist activities and . . . other crimes,\u201d noting that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":51469,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-154886","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Belarus frees more than 50 political prisoners | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 11, Pozirk. After today\u2019s meeting with John Coale, US deputy special envoy to Ukraine, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has pardoned more than 50 political\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarus frees more than 50 political prisoners | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 11, Pozirk. After today\u2019s meeting with John Coale, US deputy special envoy to Ukraine, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has pardoned more than 50 political\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/statkevich_744\u0445496.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"496\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/\"},\"headline\":\"Belarus frees more than 50 political prisoners\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-11T12:15:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/\"},\"wordCount\":466,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/statkevich_744\u0445496.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/\",\"name\":\"Belarus frees more than 50 political prisoners | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154886\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/statkevich_744\u0445496.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-11T12:15:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"September 11, Pozirk. 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