VILNIUS: Belarus opposition leader Syarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 other prisoners were released from jail on Saturday and are now free in Lithuania, the neighbouring country’s government said. The release was brokered by US special envoy Keith Kellogg, a spokesperson for Lithua­nia’s prime minister said.

Kellogg earlier met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s state news agency Belta said.

Tsikhanouski’s wife Sviat­lana Tsikhanous­kaya, in a post on social media service X, thanked US President Donald Trump as well as Kellogg and others for their efforts to secure her husband’s release.

“We’re not done,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on her X account, calling for the release of a further 1,150 prisoners.

Five Belarus nationals were released along with three Poles, two Latvians, two Japanese citizens and one Swede, Lithuania said.

Among those released by Belarus was Ihar Karnei, a former journalist at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement thanking Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“We thank Secretary Rubio and his team, the Lithuanian government, and the international community for their support of our imprisoned journalists,” he added.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2025