Belarus has freed 25 prisoners as part of a deal with the United States involving a further easing of sanctions, with US envoy John Coale saying hundreds more could be released within a month.
The detainees were taken to Lithuania after being released on Wednesday, following negotiations between Mr Coale and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Mr Coale, appointed by Donald Trump to secure the release of hundreds of people, said he expected to return to Minsk in about a month.
“This process has been very successful. President Trump’s very happy with this,” Mr Coale told Reuters in Vilnius.
The latest release was smaller than the group of 250 prisoners Mr Coale negotiated during a visit to Minsk in March. However, he said he hoped “hundreds” would be freed during his next visit.
Viasna, a human rights organisation banned in Belarus as an extremist organisation, said several of those released had been serving lengthy prison sentences. They included journalist Andrei Alyaksandrau, who had been given a 14-year term.
Three musicians arrested in 2022 were also released after their songs were designated as “extremist materials”. A source familiar with the situation said a significant number of additional prisoners were expected to be freed but would remain in Belarus.
Viasna said relatives of some detainees had been told they could collect them from penal colonies on Wednesday morning. The organisation says 886 political prisoners remain in Belarus, although Mr Lukashenko rejects that description and denies claims by the exiled opposition that people are being arrested to replace those released.
Asked whether he still believed all the prisoners could be freed this year, Mr Coale said: “Well, I think so. I’ll give it a try.”
US sanctions eased as negotiations continue
The United States is lifting sanctions on Lakokraska, a manufacturer of paints and industrial coatings, and Bellesbumprom, a state-owned company overseeing forestry, pulp and paper operations.
Mr Coale also promised Mr Lukashenko that he would seek to have US banks return tens of millions of dollars in frozen Belarusian assets.
The diplomatic effort has drawn gratitude from some Belarusians, but rights groups and opposition politicians say arrests are continuing and that Mr Lukashenko has not ended repression. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said: “Today, alongside our joy for those released, we remember those who remain behind bars.”
Mr Lukashenko, who has led Belarus since 1994, is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has faced longstanding Western criticism over the treatment of his opponents and his support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Coale said the wars in the Gulf and Ukraine were complicating the negotiations. “If these wars weren’t going on, we would get everybody out by next Tuesday,” he said.
