Belarus opposition leader Tikhanovsky freed from jail following visit from top Trump envoy
His wife Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who took over the opposition cause after his jailing, shared a video of him smiling and embracing her after his release with the caption: "FREE".
Tikhanovskaya's team said that the popular blogger and activist had arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, alongside 13 other political prisoners. Tikhanovsky's release came just hours after the Belarusian authorities announced that the country's authoritarian President, Alexander Lukashenko, met with Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in Minsk.
Tikhanovskaya said Saturday that officials from the United States had helped secure her husband's release.
"It's hard to describe the joy in my heart," she said in a post on X, thanking US President Donald Trump, US envoy Keith Kellogg and European allies.
Belarus marks one year since disputed presidential election
02:04
Tikhanovsky, 46, had been imprisoned for more than five years.
He planned to run against Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election, but was arrested and detained weeks before the vote.
His wife Svetlana – a political novice at the time of his arrest – took his place in the polls.
He was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for "organising riots" and "inciting hatred" and then to 18 months extra for "insubordination".
Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has outlawed all opposition movements and is the only European country to retain the death penalty as a punishment.
There are more than 1,000 political prisoners in the country, according to Viasna.
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