Bélarus
Opponent Sergei Tikhanovski liberated
After a mediation of Washington, the opponent Bélarusian Sergei Tikhanovski was released on Saturday.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa takes a photo of her husband Sergei Tikhanovski at the European People’s Party Congress in Bucharest, March 6, 2024.
AFP
Sergei Tikhanovski, husband of the figure of the opposition Bélarusse in exile svetlana tikhanovskaïa, was released on Saturday from prison with 13 other people, a decision taken “on demand” by Donald Trump, according to the Actocrat Alexandre Loukachenko who has run the Belarus for more than 30 years.
Five years ago, Sergei Tikhanovski had been at the heart of the great protest movement against the re -election of Alexandre Loukachenko, protests that the latter had crushed in violence.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa published a video showing her a long man with a shaved skull, with legend: “Free”.
“It’s hard to describe joy in my heart”
“It’s hard to describe joy in my heart,” she wrote. “We haven’t finished it. 1150 political prisoners remain behind bars. They must all be released, ”she added.
“He’s near me, with the children. Our family dreamed of this for five years, ”she added on Telegram. On X, the opponent thanked US President Donald Trump and “our European allies” for “all their efforts”.
“The president decided to pardon 14 convicted. This was a request from the President of the United States, “said spokeswoman for the Bélarusian presidency, Natalia Eismont, to the Russian agency Tass.
“Thank you President Trump!”
In a message on his Truth Social platform, the American president seemed to take the merit of this liberation by writing: “Thank you President Trump!”, A message accompanied by a link to a press article evoking the liberation of the opponent.
Among the 13 other released political prisoners are in particular a journalist from the Radio Free Europe media, a university professor, a businessman and an anarchist activist, according to the NGO Bélarusse de Défense du Rights Viasna, herself persecuted by power.
Citizen Suédo-Bélarusian Galina Krasnyanskaya, arrested in 2023 for accusations of support for Ukraine, was also released, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf KrisSson announced.
“The role of the United States in this release has been crucial”
They are all now on Lithuanian territory, announced on X kęstutis Budrys, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, border of Bélarus and where many opponents of Belarusses in exile live, including Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa. “The role of the United States in this release has been crucial,” added Kęstatis Budrys.
The announcement of the Liberation intervened a few hours after a meeting between Alexandre Loukachenko and the American emissary Keith Kellogg in Minsk, the visit to the most at the level for an American representative in this State for years, according to the Bélarusse official Belta agency
Polish diplomacy chief Radoslaw Sikorski, where tens of thousands of Belarusses who fled the repression, also said, thanked Keith Kellogg.
The opposing Tikhanovski stopped in May
Since his return to power, the administration of Donald Trump has come closer to Russia, the main ally of Bélarus, whose territory had served as the basis of the Russian troops to attack Ukraine in 2022 and which is under the blow of many Western sanctions.
This warming of American-Russian relations has notably distinguished itself in recent months by the release or the exchange of American citizens detained in Russia.
Opponent Tikhanovski, 46, was arrested in May 2020 shortly before the August presidential election marked by historical opposition demonstrations, followed by a great wave of repression ordered by President Alexandre Loukachenko.
The torch taken up by his wife
Blogger, he animated a popular YouTube channel and wanted to challenge Alexandre Loukachenko, in power since 1994, during this presidential election.
After his incarceration, his wife Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, who had no political experience, had resumed his torch and had mobilized the crowds during his electoral campaign.
Alexandre Loukachenko had won the ballot, officially with 80% of the votes. Tens of thousands of people then demonstrated, for weeks, against his re -election, denouncing massive fraud.
Thousands of arrests
The authorities have matured the movement with thousands of arrests, tortures and convictions. Svetlana tikhanovskaïa had been forced to exile, under pressure from the authorities. Since then, she has directed the opposition from abroad.
In 2021, Sergei Tikhanovski had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for “organization of riots” and “incitement to hatred”, then to an additional 18 months for “insubordination”. He was held in very strict conditions, with very few contacts with the outside.
The liberation of the opponent was described as “fantastic news” and “symbol of hope” for all political prisoners to Bélarus, by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who reiterated her appeal to “their immediate liberation”, on X. The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Johann Wadephul, also praised “a fantastic news”.
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