{"id":174214,"date":"2026-02-04T12:37:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174214\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"cichanouski-urges-washington-to-use-leverage-over-lukasenka-to-end-reprisals","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174214\/","title":{"rendered":"Cichano\u016dski urges Washington to use leverage over \u0141uka\u0161enka to end reprisals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski at the hearing on human rights situation in Belarus, Washington, February 3, 2026\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Video by Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission \/ Still by Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

February 4, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> A pro-active diplomacy led by US President Donald Trump is the most realistic way to secure the liberation of jailed Belarusian regime critics, opposition politician Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski told a hearing on human rights in Belarus at the US Congress yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other possible yet less feasible ways include a foreign military intervention or a prisoner exchange, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former prisoner, liberated last year after Washington\u2019s talks with Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, made this statement at the hearing held by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan congressional body promoting international human rights and advising US lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cichano\u016dski noted that the US administration should wisely use the \u201cenormous leverage\u201d it currently holds over the Belarusian ruler to pressure Minsk into releasing all designated political prisoners and ending reprisals in Belarus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politician cited \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s active efforts to attract American businesses to Belarus, including the country\u2019s flagship carrier, the potash industry and nuclear energy. The Belarusian ruler is also seeking to position himself as a mediator in US-Russia relations, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI ask one thing: please don\u2019t stop,\u201d the former prisoner said. \u201cYou have already saved doctors, politicians, bloggers and even a Nobel Peace Prize laureate [Ale\u015b Bialacki], but more than 1,100 people still remain in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dzianis Ku\u010dynki from the team of Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja and Vytis Jurkonis, head of Freedom House in Lithuania, also participated in yesterday’s hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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