Human rights in Belarus: U.S. visit to Belarus: opposition Tachanowski is free

After years in prison in the authoritarian ex-Soviet Republic of Belarus, the well-known opposition politician Sergei Tachanowski has been released and deported. “The decision to release Tachanowski was made by the President for purely humanitarian reasons for the purpose of reunification with his family,” said the press spokeswoman for Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukaschenko, Natalja Ejsmont. According to her, a total of 14 prisoners were released by US President Donald Trump.

Tachanowski’s wife, Swetlana Tachanowskaja, confirmed the release of her husband on the platform X. “My husband is free. It is difficult to describe the joy in my heart,” she wrote. On the attached video you can see how the two embrace themselves. The pictures come from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Tachanowski became Lukaschenkos Dangerous

Tachanowski is a blogger and politician who wanted to compete against incumbent Lukashenko in 2020 and was considered a promising candidate. However, he was arrested in the election campaign – and one year after the vote, sentenced to 18 years in prison for the alleged organization of mass riots.

In the 2020 election, wife Swetlana took part in his place, who, in many observers, also won the coordination. When Lukaschenko still had around 80 percent of the vote credited and declared the winner, there were mass protests. The power apparatus in Minsk, with the help of Moscow, ended up bloody. Tachanowskaja had to flee into exile with her children.

Thanks to the USA for mediation efforts

After reunification with her husband, Tachanowskaja thanked the USA and the EU for the efforts to find out. Another prominent prisoner who has been deported is journalist Igor Karnej.

Thank you from many countries, including from Germany and Sweden, came from many countries. The German Foreign Minister Johann WadePhul called the release Tachanowski on X a “fantastic good news”. At the same time, the many other prisoners in Belarus would not forget. “Lukaschko finally has to release it,” wrote the CDU politician.

The Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson gave a thank you to US President Trump and the U.S. Sonderstanded Keith Kellogg on X. In addition to Tachanowski, among the released people, he also wrote a Swedish citizen, Galina Krasnjanskaja. The pressure on Belarus must be maintained until all political prisoners have been released. A total of nine of the released had a foreign pass.

Still more than 1,000 political prisoners in Belarus

Lukaschenko has already released regime regulators from prison in the past few months. Finally, he left an oppositional one at the beginning of May, which also had a US pass – also on Washington.

According to Tachanowskajas, there are still 1,150 political prisoners. The best known political prisoner is Maria Kolesnikowa, who also played an important role in the 2020 protests.

Attempt to approach the West

The current action was directly related to the visit of Kellogg in Minsk. For Trump as a special representative for Ukraine, the general should actually reach the war there. The talks in the Minsk residence of Lukaschenko dealt with a peaceful solution for Russia’s war in Ukraine, but also about bilateral relationships between the USA and Belarus.

Lukaschenko is considered a close ally of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, on whom he has also been heavily dependent since the controversial election in 2020. In the past, however, the 70-year-old has always tried a rocking policy between East and West to secure his power in Minsk.