{"id":200158,"date":"2026-08-16T16:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200158\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T16:56:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:56:24","slug":"us-envoy-coale-hopeful-for-more-dissident-releases-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200158\/","title":{"rendered":"US envoy Coale hopeful for more dissident releases in Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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August 16, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong>US Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale has replied \u201cyes\u201d to an X user Jana Kavalova, who asked whether more jailed dissidents could be released in Belarus soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Kavalova appealed to Coale to help her brother, Illa Vieramieje\u016d and \u201call political prisoners in Belarus.\u201d Four years ago, Vieramieje\u016d was given six and a half years in prison over Tlegram chat exchanges regarding Russia\u2019s full-scale war on Ukraine. He was 18 years old at the time of his arrest and is currently held in a punishment cell, rights groups say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negotiations between the United States and Belarus regarding the release of jailed Belarusian regime critics continue, Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja told Deutsche Welle<\/em> (DW)<\/em> earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She made the statement just over two weeks after Minsk sent its envoy Valancin Rybako\u016d to Washington with some proposals. Rybako\u016d said he hoped his meetings would bear \u201cvisible fruit in the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanchile, Cichano\u016dskaja said that Belarusian pro-democracy forces maintain constant communication with the American side, noting that Coale is also optimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent pardon in Belarus occurred on July 1 and included 32 people. Of these, 28 were convicted on extremism-related charges that authorities routinely use to persecute regime critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, more than 400 political prisoners have been released as a result of talks between Minsk and Washington. In exchange, the United States is gradually lifting its sanctions against the \u0141uka\u0161enka regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, Washington has dropped its restrictive measures against Bie\u0142investbank, the Development Bank of Belarus, the Ministry of Finance, the Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij potash giant and Belarusian Potash Company, and Belarus\u2019 national airline Bie\u0142avija.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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