Maria Kolesnikova, a central figure in Belarus‘ 2020 protest movement, has been released along with 122 other prisoners after more than five years behind bars, the US embassy.
Maria Kolesnikova, a central figure in Belarus‘ 2020 protest movement, has been released along with 122 other prisoners after more than five years behind bars, the US embassy in Vilnius said Saturday. Onetime opposition candidate Viktar Babaryka and Ales Bialiatski, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in jail awaiting trial, also were freed. The embassy said their release followed talks between President Alexander Lukashenko and John Coale, special envoy for President Trump, Reuters reports. The deal calls for the US to lift sanctions on Belarus‘ vital fertilizer exports. Bialiatski, 63, who spent 1,613 days in prison, said his release was a surprise. It felt „like I jumped out of icy water into a normal, warm room“, he told the AP.
