On June 21, opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky was released in Belarus, along with 13 other political prisoners.
This is reported by the Belarusian media outlet Nasha Niva.
According to journalists, the release of citizens was due to the visit to Minsk of the US President Donald Trumpʼs special representative Keith Kellogg.
“I thank the Lithuanian government for their cooperation and assistance — they remain a true friend and ally,” Kellogg’s deputy John Cole commented on his X page.
As is known, Sergei Tikhanovsky was detained before the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus. The political prisoner spent more than five years behind bars. At liberty, in particular, are former teacher Natalia Dulina, activist Akihiro Gaevsky-Hanada, and journalist of the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty Igor Karney.
Galina Krasnyanska was also released — a 69-year-old woman sentenced to 5 years in prison. She has Belarusian and Swedish citizenship. Kirill Balakhonov is also at large, a 21-year-old man sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in the case of the "Union of the Belarusian National Shield".
Sergei Sheleg, a 64-year-old pharmaceutical company manager who received one of the longest sentences for drug trafficking in Belarus — 8.5 years — has also been released from prison.
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