BELARUS released 52 political prisoners in U.S.-brokered deal
By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (22.09.2025) – Belarus released 52 political prisoners from several countries on 11 September after a meeting with a U.S. delegation in Minsk.
The political prisoners include six Lithuanians, two Germans, two Latvians, two Poles, and one each from France and Britain, The Guardian reported.
The remaining 38 political prisoners are Belarus citizens who were released as part of a U.S.-brokered deal. They all arrived in Lithuania on the same day.
Among them, former Belarusian presidential candidate in the 2010 elections Nikolai Statkevich, philosopher Vladimir Matskevich, and several independent journalists.
Many prominent critics of Lukashenko’s decades-long rule remain behind bars, including the opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova and the human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski, a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel peace prize.
Although none of the political prisoners were U.S. citizens, the United States will remove its 2023 sanctions on Belarus’ national airline, Belavia, allowing it to service and buy parts for its Boeing aircraft fleet, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Vilnius said.
Belarus state agencies also cited John Coale, a lawyer who led the American delegation, as saying that Donald Trump had told Lukashenko that Washington wants to reopen its embassy in Minsk, closed by Biden administration after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The day after for the Belarusians released prisoners
The Belarusians released prisoners were simply left on the streets of Lithuania, with no support whatsoever. Fortunately, Belarusians in Lithuania stepped in — individuals and organizations took them into their homes and provided shelter as no follow up had apparently been planned.
“Many are completely broken and traumatized. The only positive aspect is that the people are now free — but it is heartbreaking to see them, to look into their eyes. I know many of them personally, from before the protests and all that followed, and it is very hard to see what has become of them,” a Belarusian in exile told the Brussels-based NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers.
The OSCE calling for the release of all political prisoners
At the OSCE meeting, 38 member states of the OSCE issued a joint statement calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Belarus and an end to the large-scale repression of civil society, independent media and opposition. Thousands of people remain behind bars for political reasons. According to human rights activists, nine political prisoners have already died in prison.
The statement was delivered by a Canadian representative on behalf of the “Informal Group of Friends of Democratic Belarus,” which includes EU countries, the UK, Ukraine, as well as Canada and Norway. Albania, Andorra, Austria, Liechtenstein, Malta, Moldova, North Macedonia, San Marino, Switzerland and Andorra also joined the initiative.
Photo credits: Creative Commons
