Latest news with #SergeyTikhanovsky
14 hours ago
- Politics
Belarus Frees 14 Prisoners Including 2 Japanese Nationals
News from Japan World Jun 22, 2025 12:19 (JST) Tokyo, June 22 (Jiji Press)--Belarus has freed 14 prisoners including two Japanese nationals, as well as opposition figure Sergey Tikhanovsky, according to Russia's state-run Tass news agency and other media outlets citing a spokesperson for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. One of the Japanese citizens is believed to be Masatoshi Nakanishi, who lives in the southeastern state of Gomel and teaches Japanese at a national university there. Nakanishi was detained in July last year, including for allegedly taking a photo of a railway. In March, a local court sentenced him to seven years in prison for espionage. The other Japanese national was detained last December for allegedly photographing an overpass on a main road. The freed prisoners also include Polish, Latvian, Estonian, Swedish and U.S. citizens. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Belarus releases 14 prisoners during visit of Trump's envoy
Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, has visited Belarus and met with President Alexander Lukashenko. Shortly after the talks, on Saturday, Minsk released 14 prisoners, including a key opposition figure, Sergey Tikhanovsky, who immediately left the country for Lithuania. Kellogg and Lukashenko met at the presidential palace in Minsk and discussed the relations between the US and Belarus, as well as international agenda, according to Lukashenko's press service. The talks lasted for six and a half hours, according to Minsk. 'You have made a lot of noise in the world with your arrival. But I wonder why. Can't we have a normal dialogue and talk about our affairs – about relations between Belarus and the United States of America,' Lukashenko told Kellogg. The release of the prisoners was first confirmed on X by the US with Kellogg's deputy, John Coale. 'President Trump's strong leadership led to the release of 14 prisoners from Belarus today. Thanks to the Lithuanian government for its cooperation and assistance – they remain a true friend and ally,' Coale wrote. Lukashenko's press secretary, Natalya Eismont, said the president pardoned the prisoners at Trump's request and emphasized that he acted out of 'humanitarian considerations, to reunify families.' All 14 individuals are currently in Lithuania, its Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has confirmed. 'The US role in the release has been critical,' Budrys wrote on X. Tikhanovsky's release has been confirmed by his wife, pro‑Western opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who posted footage of their reunion on social media. Tikhanovsky, an opposition blogger, was barred from running for president in the 2020 Belarus election and ultimately ended up jailed for 18 years for organizing mass rioting and other crimes. His wife ran in his place, lost to Lukashenko by a wide margin, and left the country soon after. Tikhanovskaya continues to insist that she was the rightful winner, referring to herself as Belarus' 'elected president' while engaging with Western governments. Neither party has released a comprehensive list of the individuals freed from Belarusian jails, and it also remains unclear whether Minsk received anything in return. Belarus says the group mostly consisted of foreign nationals: three Polish, two Latvian, two Japanese, plus Estonian, Swedish, and American citizens.
CNN
a day ago
- Politics
- CNN
Belarus frees key opposition figure Sergey Tikhanovsky following rare visit from top US envoy
Belarus has freed Sergey Tikhanovsky, a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, following a rare visit by a senior US official, Tikhanovskaya's team announced on Saturday. Tikhanovsky, a popular blogger and activist who was jailed in 2020, arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, alongside 13 other political prisoners, his wife's team said. The release came just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko met with US President Donald Trump's envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in Minsk. A video published on his wife's official Telegram account showed Tikhanovsky disembarking a white minibus, with a shaved head and broad smile. He pulled Tikhanovskaya into a long embrace as their supporters applauded. 'My husband is free. It's difficult to describe the joy in my heart,' Tikhanovskaya told reporters. But she added her team's work is 'not finished' while over 1,100 political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus. Tikhanovsky was jailed after announcing plans to challenge Lukashenko in the 2020 election. Following his arrest, his wife ran in his stead, rallying large crowds across the country. Official results of the election handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office but were denounced by the opposition and the West as a sham. As unprecedented protests broke out in the aftermath of the vote, Tikhanovskaya left the country under pressure from the authorities. Her husband was later sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots. Other prominent dissidents remain in Belarusian jails, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, a human rights advocate serving a 10-year prison sentence on charges widely denounced as politically motivated. Also behind bars is Viktor Babaryka, a former banker who was widely seen in 2020 as Lukashenko's main electoral rival, and Maria Kolesnikova, a charismatic leader of that year's mass protests. Released alongside Tikhanovsky was longtime Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Ihar Karnei, the US government-funded broadcaster confirmed. Karnei, who had also worked with prominent Belarusian and Russian newspapers, had been serving a three-year service on extremism charges he rejected as a sham. RFE/RL's Belarusian service had been designated extremist in the country, a common label handed to anyone who criticizes Lukashenko's government. As a result, working for it or spreading its content has become a criminal offense. 'We are deeply grateful to President Trump for securing the release of this brave journalist, who suffered at the hands of the Belarusian authorities,' the broadcaster's CEO Stephen Capus said Saturday in a press release. Karnei was detained several times while covering the 2020 protests. Unlike many of his colleagues, he chose to stay in Belarus despite the ensuing repression. He was arrested again in July 2023, as police raided his apartment seizing phones and computers. Belarus also freed an Estonian national who had set up an NGO to raise funds for Belarusian refugees. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Allan Roio was detained last January, and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on charges of establishing an extremist organization.
