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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Belarus pardons scores of prisoners ‘at the request’ of Trump,
Lukashenko says
By Darya Tarasova, Lauren Kent, Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Updated:
12:30 PM EDT, Fri September 12, 2025
Source: CNN
Belarus has pardoned 52 prisoners and released them into Lithuania,
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday, as the Baltic
nation and Belarus both thanked US President Donald Trump for his
involvement.
It is the latest release of political prisoners by Belarus amid warming
relations between Washington and Minsk. A Trump administration official
said the United States would ease some sanctions on Belarus’
state-run airline, Belavia, “based on the prisoner releases to date
and constructive engagement.”
In a statement on social media, Nausėda hailed the release of the
political prisoners, saying “No man left behind!”
“52 prisoners safely crossed the Lithuanian border from today,
leaving behind barbed wire, barred windows and constant fear,” the
Lithuanian president wrote, adding that he is personally and “deeply
grateful” to the US and .
“52 is a lot. A great many,” he added. “Yet more than 1,000
political prisoners still remain in Belarusian prisons and we cannot
stop until they see freedom!”
Their release comes after Belarus’ strongman leader Alexander
Lukashenko met Thursday with senior Trump administraiton official John
Coale, who traveled to Minsk at Trump’s direction.
The two discussed “a range of issues, including additional prisoner
releases and regional security issues, like ending the weaponization of
illegal migration from Belarus into neighboring NATO countries,” the
Trump administration official said.
Coale informed Lukashenko of the easing of certain sanctions on
Belavia, the official said, noting that this “limited relief package
will allow Belavia to service and buy components for its existing
fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft.”
The US welcomed the release of the political prisoners, and the
official said they would “continue to work to free the nearly 1,300
remaining political prisoners in Belarus.”
Lukashenko announced that 14 foreign nationals are among those Belarus
released “at the request of the President of the United States,”
according to his presidential pool. Those released include six
Lithuanian nationals, two Latvians, two Poles, two Germans, and one
person each from France and the United Kingdom, the pool said.
Belarus said Coale indicated the US wants to reopen its embassy in
Minsk, but he did not specify a date.
Belarus also said Coale passed along a letter from Trump and the
American first lady, in which they wished Lukashenko well, and
presented him with a gift of cufflinks featuring an image of the White
House.
“No matter how banal it may sound, I want to thank your President
(Trump) – not because I want to flatter him, that’s foreign to me
– for the efforts he is making toward peace, primarily in our
region,” Lukashenko said in an opening statement at the meeting.
Russian state media TASS reported that the 52 people were pardoned
“on humanitarian grounds” and “as a gesture of goodwill”
following the request of Trump and other world leaders.
Nausėda confirmed that six Lithuanians have been freed. Polish state
media also reported that Polish nationals have been pardoned.
However, a full list of the pardoned prisoners has not yet been
released.
The human rights group Viasna said in a post on Telegram that among
those released is Mikalai Statkevich, a former Belarusian presidential
candidate and political prisoner who was detained in 2020 and sentenced
to 14 years in a penal colony. Nothing had been known about his
condition since February 9, 2023, Viasna said.
Statkevich refused deportation to Lithuania and opted to stay in his
home country, according to Belarus’ exiled opposition leader Svetlana
Tikhanovskaya. Independent media have warned the politician likely
risks re-arrest for remaining in Belarus.
“Every Belarusian has the right to live without repression and state
terror in their own country,” Tikhanovskaya said in a statement.
“We wish Mikalai – a true hero of our people—strength, safety,
and freedom.”
Human rights activists and independent Belarusian media have reported
the release of other prominent political prisoners, including activist
and philosopher Uladzimir Matskevich and Lithuanian citizen Elena
Ramanauskienė.
Lithuania’s foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys home Ramanauskienė,
who the minister said was unjustly sentenced to six years in prison in
2024 on “fabricated charges.”
Earlier this year, Belarus freed Sergey Tikhanovsky, a and the husband
of opposition leader Tikhanovskaya, following another rare visit by a
senior US official, Tikhanovskaya’s team announced in June.
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