VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Saturday freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babaryka, as part of a deal with Washington that lifted U.S. sanctions on the country’s vital fertilizer exports.
A close ally of Russia, the authoritarian President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. Belarus has been repeatedly sanctioned by the West for its rampant repression of dissent and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine. Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024 in what is seen as an effort by Lukashenko to win a reprieve from bruising restrictions.
Here’s a look at some of the prominent prisoners who were released on Saturday and others who are still incarcerated:
Ales Bialiatski and Viasna rights lawyers
Human rights lawyer Bialiatski won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize together with the prominent Russian rights group Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties of Ukraine. Awarded while in prison awaiting trial, he was later convicted of smuggling and financing actions that violated public order — charges widely denounced as politically motivated — and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The 63-year-old, who founded Belarus’ oldest and most prominent human rights group, Viasna, was imprisoned in a penal colony in Gorki in a facility known for beatings and hard labor.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Bialiatski said that his release after 1,613 days in prison was a surprise and he felt “like I jumped from ice water into a normal, warm room.”
Bialiatski, looking pale and haggard but energetic, promised to continue his work on human rights, saying that “more than a thousand political prisoners in Belarus remain behind bars simply because they chose freedom. And, of course, I am their voice.”
Uladzimir Labkovich, another Viasna activist implicated in the same case as Bialiatki, was also released.
Maria Kolesnikova, leader of the opposition
Kolesnikova was a key figure who helped organize the mass protests that shook Belarus in 2020. She was a close ally of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader who was forced into exile after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 vote.
Kolesnikova, known for her closely cropped hair and her trademark gesture of making a heart with her hands, became an even greater symbol of resistance when the Belarusian authorities tried to deport her in September 2020. Driven to the Ukrainian border, she tore up her passport and returned to Belarus, where the authorities took her back into custody.
The 43-year-old professional flautist was found guilty in 2021 on charges including conspiracy to seize power and sentenced to 11 years in prison. She became seriously ill behind bars and underwent surgery.
“It’s an incredible feeling of joy!” she said Saturday after she was released. “Seeing the eyes of the people who are dear to me, hugging them, I understand that we are all free people now. At the same time, I am thinking of those people who are not free yet, and I am very much looking forward to the moment when we can all hug each other.”
Viktar Babaryka, former presidential hopeful
Viktar Babaryka, a banker and philanthropist, entered politics in 2020 and sought to challenge Lukashenko in the presidential election. He quickly gained wide popularity but was denied registration for the race and was jailed less than two months before the vote in what he denounced as “medieval repressions.”
Babaryka, 62, was ultimately convicted on corruption charges that were widely seen as politically motivated and sentenced to 14 years in prison in July 2021. At the time, the US embassy denounced the verdict as a “cruel falsehood,” saying it showed that the “Lukashenko regime will stop at nothing to retain power.”
Maxim Znak, a lawyer and part of Babaryka’s team who was found guilty together with him, was also released on Saturday.
Maryna Zolatava, prominent journalist
A number of journalists were released on Saturday, including the editor of the popular independent news site Tut.by, Maryna Zolatava.
Zolatava was arrested in May 2021 and later sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty on charges of incitement and distribution of materials that encourage actions aimed at harming national security — counts that the authorities use widely against independent journalists and opposition supporters. International journalism organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, have persistently called for her release.
Still in prison: the journalist Poczobut and others
Andrzej Poczobut, a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a leading figure in the Polish minority of Belarus, was arrested in March 2021.
Now 52, in February 2023 he was found guilty of “harm to national security” and “incitement to hatred” for his coverage of the protests that broke out after the 2020 vote and sentenced to eight years in prison.
He was sent to a harsh maximum security prison despite concerns about his health, and has repeatedly refused to apologize to Lukashenko.
Among others still behind bars are Viasna activists Marfa Rabkova and Valiantsin Stefanovic, and Babaryka’s son Eduard, who helped run his father’s presidential campaign.