Belarusian opposition figure Sergey Tikhanovsky, sentenced to 19.5 years, was released from prison. This happened after the visit of the US special representative Keith Kellogg to Belarus. Along with him, 13 more political prisoners were released, including journalist «Radio Liberty» Igor Karney, Galina Krasnyanskaya, who holds Swedish citizenship, and 18-year-old Kirill Balakhonov, who was sentenced to 3.5 years for participating in a chat. Tikhanovsky left Belarus, and in Vilnius, he was met by his wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Deputy to Keith Kellogg, John Cole, shared details of the release on the social network X. «We just returned from Belarus with 14 people who are now free from detention. President Trump supported this trip. Deputy Secretary of State Landau supported this trip, as did many others in the administration. The US is strong now, and we can do such things.
I started building relationships with Lukashenko. About six weeks ago, we returned the last American held there. This time we returned and freed 14 people from different countries».
Meanwhile, he noted that the released were brought to the meeting with the US delegation in handcuffs. They got off the bus with their heads down. «They were brought to me like real prisoners — with hands behind their backs, all very real. But when they heard they were free, they were delighted».
NEXTA published photos of Sergey Tikhanovsky «before» and «after» the release.
Sergey Tikhanovsky was detained in May 2020 in Grodno to prevent him from participating in the Belarusian presidential elections. On December 14, 2021, the court sentenced him to 18 years in a colony, accusing him of organizing mass riots, gross violation of order, obstructing the exercise of voting rights, and inciting hostility.
Later, the court added another year to his sentence, accusing him of malicious disobedience to the colony administration.
* Recognized as a «foreign agent» in Russia.
Photo: Radio Liberty, NEXTA