Belarus frees 123 prisoners, including Nobel laureate

Belarusian authorities yesterday freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babaryka, as part of a deal with Washington DC that lifted US sanctions on the country's vital fertiliser exports.

- YURAS KARMANAU

A close ally of Russia, Belarus' authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. Belarus has been repeatedly sanctioned by the West for its rampant crackdown on dissent and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine. Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024 in what is seen as an effort by Mr Lukashenko to win a reprieve from the bruising restrictions.

Human rights advocate Mr Bialiatski won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 along with the prominent Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties. Awarded the prize while in jail awaiting trial, he was later convicted of smuggling and financing actions that violated the public order – charges widely denounced as politically motivated – and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The 63-year-old, who founded Belarus' oldest and most prominent human rights group, Viasna, was imprisoned at a penal colony in Gorki in a facility notorious for beatings and hard labour.

Mr Bialiatski said his release after 1,613 days in prison came as a surprise and felt “like I jumped out of icy water into a normal, warm room”.