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Several political prisoners, including prominent opposition figure Siarhei Tsikhanouski, have been released in Belarus. Others freed alongside him include journalist Ihar Karnei, linguist Natallia Dulina, activist Akihiro Haevski-Hanada, entrepreneur Siarhei Sheleg, diaspora representative Halina Krasnianskaya, and Budа-Kashalyova resident Kiryl Balakhanau. A video of the emotional reunion was shared by the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
The release follows today’s visit to Minsk by Keith Kellogg, Special Representative of the U.S. President, who held talks with Alexander Lukashenko. In total, 14 political prisoners were released.
Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a popular YouTuber and author of the channel “A Country for Life,” was detained on May 29, 2020, in Hrodna during a signature-gathering picket in support of his wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s presidential candidacy. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. In February last year, he received an additional sentence of 1.5 years under Article 411 for allegedly disobeying prison administration.
Ihar Karnei, a journalist with Radio Svaboda, was arrested in July 2023 and sentenced in March 2024 to three years in prison for participating in an “extremist formation” — namely, for cooperating with the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), which has been labeled extremist. Authorities claimed his reporting misrepresented Belarus’s economic, social, military, and international affairs. He was later sentenced to an additional 8 months for alleged non-compliance with prison rules. In January, he appeared in a state propaganda piece aired by ONT.
Natallia Dulina, a former associate professor at Minsk State Linguistic University, lost her job in 2020 after supporting student protests. She was arrested in October that year and sentenced in March 2023 to 3.5 years in prison on two charges: aiding extremist activity (Article 361-4) and organizing or participating in actions that grossly violate public order (Part 1, Article 342).
Akihiro Haevski-Hanada spent nearly five years behind bars. Arrested on August 12, 2020, he was sentenced on September 6, 2022, to 16 years in a high-security penal colony. In February 2023, the Supreme Court reduced his sentence by three months, bringing it to 15 years and 9 months.
Siarhei Sheleg was convicted in March 2024 on several charges, including financing terrorism (Article 290-1), funding extremist activity (Article 361-2), and supporting an extremist formation (under a repealed version of Article 361-2). He received a sentence of 8.8 years in prison and a fine of 600 base units.
Halina Krasnianskaya, a Swedish citizen and long-time activist in the Belarusian diaspora in Sweden, was detained during a visit to Minsk, reportedly in spring 2023. On January 12, 2024, she was sentenced to five years under Article 361-3 for donating to Belarusian military formations fighting on Ukraine’s side against Russian aggression.
Kiryl Balakhanau, an 18-year-old from Buda-Kashalyova, was among five individuals arrested in connection with the closed chat group “Union of the Belarusian National Shield,” which authorities designated as an extremist formation in November 2022. Officials claimed Balakhanau planned to travel to Ukraine to fight in a nationalist battalion. He was sentenced to 3.5 years for involvement in an extremist group and supporting extremist activity.