Belarus releases Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski, protest leader Maria Kolesnikova and 121 other political prisoners in a landmark US-mediated agreement
VILNIUS: Belarusian authorities have freed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and prominent protest leader Maria Kolesnikova alongside 121 other political prisoners in an unprecedented deal brokered by the United States.
The mass release on Saturday marks a significant shift following President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown after the disputed 2020 election, which saw thousands of opponents jailed.
The charismatic Kolesnikova was a star of the 2020 protest movement that posed the most serious challenge to Lukashenko’s three-decade rule.
She famously ripped up her own passport to thwart an attempt by the KGB security service to deport her from the country.
Bialiatski, a 63-year-old veteran human rights defender and the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is considered a personal enemy by Lukashenko.
He has documented rights abuses in the Moscow-allied state for decades.
After his surprise release, which he called a “huge emotional shock”, Bialiatski stressed he would continue fighting for civil rights and freedom for political prisoners.
“Our fight continues, and the Nobel Prize was, I think, a certain acknowledgement of our activity, our aspirations that have not yet come to fruition,” he told media in an interview from Vilnius.
He was awarded the prize in 2022 while already imprisoned.
Bialiatski said he was blindfolded and put on a bus after being taken from prison until they reached the Lithuanian border.
Most of those freed, including Kolesnikova, were unexpectedly taken to Ukraine, surprising allies who had been waiting for them in Lithuania.
Kolesnikova called for the release of all remaining political prisoners in a video interview with a Ukrainian government agency.
“I’m thinking of those who are not yet free, and I’m very much looking forward to the moment when we can all embrace, when we can all see one another, and when we will all be free,” she said.
The Nobel Committee hailed Bialiatski’s release but noted over 1,200 political prisoners remain detained in Belarus.
“Their continued detention starkly illustrates the ongoing, systemic repression in the country,” said committee chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed five Ukrainians were among those released and said he had spoken with Kolesnikova.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the release should strengthen resolve to keep fighting for all remaining prisoners.
The deal was mediated by the United States, which offered some sanctions relief in return for the prisoners’ freedom.
US President Donald Trump’s envoy, John Coale, was in Minsk this week for talks with Lukashenko.
Coale told state media that Washington would remove sanctions on Belarus’s potash industry, a key economic sector.
A separate US official confirmed one American citizen was among the 123 people released.
Minsk also freed Viktor Babariko, an ex-banker jailed after attempting to run against Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election.
Kolesnikova was serving an 11-year sentence and was part of a trio of women, including exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who led the 2020 protests.
An image of Kolesnikova making a heart shape with her hands became a defining symbol of the anti-Lukashenko movement. – AFP
