Фото: пресс-служба Лукашенко
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy John Coale has responded to remarks by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya that, according to available information, around 800 political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus.
“We are not finished. Keep hope alive!” he wrote on X.
A video featuring the Belarusian democratic leader was posted on social media by Apostrof editor-in-chief Denys Hlushko. In the recording, Tsikhanouskaya says that, according to known information, around 800 political prisoners are currently behind bars in Belarus, although the real number may be significantly higher because people continue to be systematically detained and not all cases are reported to human rights groups due to intimidation.
She thanked US partners and Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, for efforts to secure the release of political prisoners and noted that around 500 people had already been freed, some of whom had been deported from Belarus. She expressed hope for further releases this year and said the Lukashenka regime views prisoner releases not as an act of humanity but as a political bargaining tool.
“For Lukashenka, these releases are not an act of humanity. This is human trafficking. He wants to sell people at the highest possible price. And, of course, US sanctions are lifted in exchange for releasing people. But our European partners maintain a principled and very firm position of continuing pressure. We are very grateful to them for that. Because as long as repression continues, as long as systemic repression continues, as long as Belarusians cannot return home, and as long as the war against Ukraine continues, in which Lukashenka is an accomplice, European sanctions cannot be used to buy people’s freedom. On the contrary, now is the time to increase pressure on the Lukashenka regime in order to force it to make concessions,” she said.