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Fox News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Belarusian dissident thanks Trump admin for his freedom, demands the UN act
EXCLUSIVE — Belarusian dissident Siarhei Tsikhanouski is free after spending more than five years as a political prisoner, and now he is calling for those still behind bars to be released. In a video message played before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, Tsikhanouski makes a desperate plea for international intervention. "I was tortured, I was held in solitary confinement, I was frozen. I wasn't even given a pen to write a few words. For years, I didn't receive a single letter, not even from my daughter. They filled my ears with lies and propaganda. They tried to convince me that everyone had forgotten me. What is happening in Belarusian prisons is not law enforcement. It is torture, abuse, and the destruction of human beings. People are literally being killed behind bars," Tsikhanouski said in the video, which was provided to Fox News Digital by UN Watch. Tsikhanouski credited the international community — especially the Trump administration — for his release, which was secured after U.S. Special Envoy on Ukraine and Russia Gen. Keith Kellogg met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. In addition to Tsikhanouski, 13 other political prisoners were released through U.S. mediation. The Belarusian dissident said in the video that he would not have made it out alive if it were not for "international solidarity" and "the efforts of the USA administration." In his first address as U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Nils Muižnieks warned that, since Jan. 2025, the human rights situation has "continued to deteriorate." He also noted that authorities in Belarus have abused "highly problematic" legislation, including a prohibition on insulting the president or other public officials. "Belarus has a very large number of people behind bars who should not be there, including opposition politicians, human rights defenders, journalists, independent trade union activists, environmental defenders and lawyers," Muižnieks said before Tsikhanouski's video was played. He also described the ill-treatment of prisoners by Belarusian authorities. After the council heard Tsikhanouski's message, Muižnieks said that the recently-freed dissident's words "carry extra weight." Following his release, Tsikhanouski was reunited with his wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and their children in Lithuania. Tsikhanouskaya is the exiled Belarusian opposition leader whom some countries recognize as the president-elect. Tsikhanouskaya thanked President Donald Trump, Kellogg and the State Department for their efforts, which led to her husband's freedom. "My husband Siarhei is free! It's hard to describe the joy in my heart," Tsikhanouskaya wrote on X. "We're not done. 1,150 political prisoners remain behind bars. All must be released." UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer joined the call to see the remaining 1,150 prisoners gain their freedom. "Siarhei Tsikhanouski is a symbol of courage who paid a heavy price for daring to challenge Lukashenko's dictatorship. United Nations Watch is honored to give him the floor at the UN Human Rights Council just days after his release from prison. His voice, silenced by the regime for more than five years as he was tortured in jail, now speaks for millions of Belarusians who continue to demand freedom and human rights," Neuer told Fox News Digital. Neuer said Tsikhanouski's message to the U.N. was "a direct challenge to the regimes that continue to silence their critics." Thursday, June 26, also marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Tsikhanouskaya wrote on X to mark the occasion and shared a photo illustrating the effects that five years in prison had on her husband. "Today is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. My husband survived five years of isolation and cruelty in the Belarus regime's prisons. Many others still endure it. If we had given up, Siarhei wouldn't be free. That's why we keep going—until everyone is home," Tsikhanouskaya wrote. According to NPR, Tsikhanouski lost more than 41% of his body weight. He went into prison weighing 298 pounds but weighed just 174 pounds when he was released on June 21. In response to a request for comment on Tsikhanouski's statement, UN Human Rights Council spokesperson Pascal Sim directed Fox News Digital to a recording of the hearing, particularly Muižnieks' remarks. The U.N. Human Rights Office also directed Fox News Digital to Muižnieks' statement.
Sky News AU
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Something is wrong': Australian govt blasted for ‘absurd' ban of Israeli tech speaker
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer says 'something is wrong' in Australia after tech entrepreneur Hillel Fuld was controversially banned from the country. Israeli influencer Hillel Fuld has broken his silence after having his visa cancelled by the Albanese government, hitting out at the "ridiculous excuse" Labor used to deny him entry to Australia. Mr Fuld's visa was quietly cancelled by the Department of Home Affairs last week, shortly before he was due to arrive in the country to take part in fundraising events hosted by Magen David Adom Australia - an offshoot of Israel's national emergency medical and blood service.
Sky News AU
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Anti-Israel propaganda leads to murder of Israeli couple in Washington DC
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer says demonisation of Israel is 'fanning the flames of hate' after two Israelis were murdered in Washington, DC. 'Today we had a stark reminder of where this kind of demonisation and fanning the flames of hate leads to in Washington, DC,' Mr Neuer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'Two innocent people, Israeli staffers, a couple, that were about to get married … were attending a Jewish diplomacy event … a murderer came and went up to them in close range and shot them.'
Sky News AU
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Media is spreading ‘terrible lies' designed to demonise Israel
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer says the media is spreading lies about the Israel-Palestine war. 'In October 2023 … this terrible lie went out: Israel bombs hospital in Gaza, kills 500 people – and everything was a lie,' Mr Neuer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'There seems to be a demand in the world, there seems to be a space reserved on the front page, or in the top story on TV news … Israel kills innocents, and, you know, here are wounded, bloody people about to die.'
Memri
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Memri
The Qatar Weekly Update (QWU) – Part Of The Qatar Monitor Project (QMP) – No. 12, March 28, 2025
1. MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11899, Qatari Defense Minister In Past Tweets: 'We Are All Hamas'; 'We Must Plan How To Influence The Decision-Makers In The U.S.' March 27, 2025. U.S. Plans To Sell $1.96 Billion Of MQ-9 Drones To Qatar, Al-Monitor, March 26, 2025. 2. MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11887, Qatar's Al-Jazeera Network Provides Media Training For Officials Of New Syrian Government, Syrian Journalists, And Syrian Communications Students, March 24, 2025. 3. MEMRI TV Clip No. 11909, Al-Jazeera TV Pundit Saeed Ziad: Israel Has Left Palestinians With No Choice But To Fight With The Flesh Of Their Children, March 19, 2025. 4. Report: Qatar U.N. Ambassador Hend Al-Muftah Is Rabid Antisemite, Homophobe, Anti-Western Conspiracist, UN Watch, September 12, 2022. "Let me quote their Ambassador, Hend Al-Muftah, in her own words. She has tweeted: 'The Jews... dominated, tyrannized and ruled the world'; The Ambassador accused Israel of orchestrating 9/11, claiming 'Zionists' created Al-Qaeda. She boasted of her Qatari education, in the daily morning anthem: 'We learned from a young age that the Jews are our enemies!' Hillel Neuer, UN Watch director, March 26, 2025. 5. Republican Lawmakers Increasingly Uneasy About Witkoff's Performance In Envoy Role: "Pro-Israel Republicans told J[ewish] I[nsider] they have concerns about Witkoff's comments on Iran, Russia and Qatar, among other issues," Jewish Insider, March 25, 2025. 6. The Trump Foreign-Policy Team's Real Problem: "The Yemen attack leak was a bad mistake. But a clueless Steve Witkoff's embrace of Qatar and rationalization of Hamas betray the president's realist agenda." Jonathan Tobin, JNS, March 26, 2025. * Yigal Carmon is President and Founder of MEMRI.
