Belarus has released 52 political prisoners, among them two Latvian citizens, and all of those freed have been handed over to Lithuania, Lithuanian President Gitanas NausÄ—da announced on Thursday.
The released include opposition activists, journalists, and protest participants. Fourteen of them are foreign nationals — six Lithuanians, two Latvians, two Poles, two Germans, one Frenchman, and one Briton.
NausÄ—da noted that U.S. President Donald Trump was directly involved in the negotiations for their release.
The Lithuanian president stressed that this was not done in exchange for lifting Western sanctions against Belarus.
Among those released is Lithuanian citizen Elena RamanauskienÄ—, who last year was sentenced to six years in prison for “espionage.”
According to the Belarusian opposition news site afn.by, RamanauskienÄ—, an employee of the “Belorus” sanatorium in Druskininkai, was accused of passing information to Lithuanian authorities about the sanatorium’s guests, including high-ranking Belarusian officials.
NausÄ—da emphasized that he had made great efforts to secure her release:
“We must take care of all Lithuanian citizens, wherever they may be,”
the president said.
The Belarusian human rights group Viasna (“Spring”) reported that among those freed is dissident Mikalai Statkevich. Following protests against the falsification of the 2020 presidential election, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Also released after spending five years behind bars was Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Ihar Losik.
According to the Belarusian opposition news site Refoerm.news, the released Latvian citizens are Emīls Asars, who was sentenced last year for drug smuggling, and a man named Ivars Šumass.
NausÄ—da, however, reminded that around 1,000 political prisoners remain in Belarus, including Lithuanians. He again urged Lithuanians not to travel to Belarus unless absolutely necessary.
As previously reported, in June Belarus already released 14 political prisoners, among them Syarhey Tsikhanouski, the husband of Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
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