Another 25 Political Prisoners Have Been Released In Belarus

(Updated) The last names of nearly all those released on September 16 are known.

Another 25 political prisoners have been released in Belarus.

This was reported by U.S. President’s Special Envoy John Cole on his page at X. He also posted photos of the political prisoners released on September 16.

“Today, 25 prisoners are free! President Trump’s commitment to direct diplomacy is yielding results. …Thank you to our friends in Lithuania for their support. We will continue to improve relations between the U.S. and Belarus and are working to secure the release of even more people in the very near future. “We’re not done yet!” wrote John Cole.

Among those released on September 16 was Elena Lazarchik, an activist with the “European Belarus” civic campaign.

Elena Lazarchik is 51 years old; she is the widow of Sergei Matskoitys, an activist and defender of Kuropat (he died in 2023).

In September 2022, Elena was sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony; she was charged under articles regarding insulting Lukashenko (Article 368 of the Criminal Code), creating an “extremist group” or participating in it (Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code), inciting hostility (Article 130 of the Criminal Code), and grossly violating public order (Article 342 of the Criminal Code).

Later, she was given an additional one and a half years in prison under the charge of disobeying prison authorities (Article 411 of the Criminal Code). Since then, Elena has been held at IK-24 in Zarechye, a prison where women who have been convicted more than once are sent to serve their sentences.

At this time, the following names of released and deported political prisoners are known:

Andrei Aleksandrov, manager at Belapan

Pavel Belous, founder of the cult store Symbal.by

Yevgeny Burlo, member of the band Tor Band

Ilya Veremeev, convicted for messages in Telegram chats at the start of the war

Dmitry Golovach, member of the band Tor Band

Irina Zlobina, owner of a flower shop, detained in connection with the BY_help case

Dmitry Kolos, publisher

Tatyana Kuzina, political scientist

Elena Lazarchik, activist with “European Belarus”

Anastasia Lazarenko, attorney

Dmitry Novozhilov, director of the Belapan news agency

Kirill Poznyak, journalist

Pavel Petruchenya, convicted for “The Black Book of Belarus”

Yana Pinchuk, Telegram channel administrator, extradited from Russia

Denis Salmanovich, convicted for Telegram channels

Olga Stroeva, a 67-year-old businesswoman from Gomel

Andrei Tseliuk, an activist from Brest

Ales Chumakov, a member of “Stary Olsa”

Lyudmila Chekina, director of Tut.by

Yevgeny Yushkevich, former investigator and IT specialist

Svetlana Yakubovich, volunteer with the Gomel branch of “Vyasna”

Andrei Yaremchik, member of the band Tor Band

Earlier, following negotiations in Minsk, John Cole announced that 25 people would be released in Belarus, and the United States would, in response, lift sanctions against two Belarusian companies.

“As a gesture of goodwill, Belarus will release 25 people. The United States, in turn, will lift sanctions against two Belarusian companies—‘Lakokraska’ and ‘Bellesbumprom’,” Cole said.

Negotiations between the U.S. delegation and the Belarusian authorities took place in Minsk on September 15 and 16.

The U.S. Special Envoy emphasized that the parties will continue to work on the remaining issues. According to him, if new agreements are reached, further releases of individuals and the lifting of U.S. sanctions against Belarusian companies may follow.

“Once all issues have been resolved and agreed upon by both sides, there will be additional releases of individuals and the lifting of sanctions against Belarusian companies,” Cole said.

The day before, John Cole met with Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk. One of the topics of the talks was the release of prisoners. Prior to his visit to Belarus, the U.S. special envoy was in Vilnius, where he discussed the situation with Belarusian political prisoners, among other issues, with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys.

Earlier, Cole stated that he expected further prisoner releases in Belarus around mid-September.

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