Zürcher Nachrichten - Belarus frees 52 prisoners, including veteran dissident, journalists

Tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets in 2020 to protest what they called a sham presidential election in which Alexander Lukashenko secured himself a sixth term.

Many were detained during a brutal crackdown and later prosecuted on what rights groups denounced as politically motivated charges.

Trump has been pushing Lukashenko to free the more than 1,000 political prisoners rights groups say are still behind bars.

Among those released on Thursday were Mikola Statkevich, 69, a veteran dissident who stood against Lukashenko in a 2010 presidential contest, said rights group Vyasna. He had been in jail for five years.

Also freed was a staff member with the EU's delegation in Minsk and nine journalists and bloggers, including a reporter for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

"The United States welcomes the continued release of political prisoners in Belarus following President Trump's engagement," said a White House official.

Brussels welcomed the release of its employee.

"I'm glad our colleague Mikalai Khilo is among those freed," said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. "Our work to free all political prisoners continues."

- 1,000 still in jail -

Belarusian rights groups said more than a dozen people with foreign citizenship were among those released, including Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, German, French and British citizens.

Most of those released had crossed the border into EU member Lithuania, where they were greeted by exiled opposition figures.

But Statkevich appeared to be refusing to cross, rights groups and state media reported, posting a CCTV photo of a man they said resembled the veteran activist sitting in the neutral zone between the two countries.

Images showed the men being released sitting on a bus at the border, their heads recently shaven.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda wrote on X that he was "deeply grateful" for Washington and President Donald Trump's involvement in the release.

The Baltic state has become a haven for Belarusians that have fled the country since 2020.

"More than 1,000 political prisoners still remain in Belarusian prisons and we cannot stop until they see freedom!" Nauseda added.

A Trump official, deputy special envoy John Coale, was in Minsk on Thursday, where he handed Lukashenko a personal letter from Trump, including birthday wishes.

Coale said the country was lifting sanctions on the country's state airline, Belavia, in images broadcast on Belarusian state TV.

The White House later clarified it would be a "limited relief package" that would allow Belavia to "service and buy components for its existing fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft".

In June, 14 political prisoners were released from prison, including Sergei Tikhanovsky, the husband of the exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

"The release of 52 hostages is a great relief, but over 1,200 remain behind bars in Belarus," Tikhanovskaya, who met those freed at the US Embassy in Vilnius, said on X.

S.Scheidegger--NZN