Belarus frees 123 prisoners including Nobel peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski

Saturday 13 December 2025 - 15:20

By: Sahili Aya

Belarus frees 123 prisoners including Nobel peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski

Belarus has released 123 prisoners, including human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, following diplomatic discussions between Minsk and Washington, according to human rights organizations and official sources.

The release was confirmed by Viasna, the leading Belarusian human rights group founded by Bialiatski in the 1990s. Detained for more than four years, the 63-year-old activist had become a symbol of political repression in the country. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 while still behind bars, in recognition of his long-standing work defending civil liberties.

Among those freed is also Maria Kolesnikova, a prominent opposition figure who played a key role in the mass protests that followed Belarus’s disputed 2020 presidential election. A trained musician, she became one of the faces of the protest movement before being arrested and sentenced to a lengthy prison term.

Belarusian authorities said the prisoners were pardoned by President Alexander Lukashenko after talks with the United States, though no full list of names was officially published. The announcement came on the same day a U.S. envoy confirmed the lifting of certain American sanctions on Belarusian potash exports, a key sector of the country’s economy.

In recent months, Washington has repeatedly called on Minsk to release political detainees. In return, the United States has gradually eased some restrictions, including measures affecting Belarus’s national airline.

U.S. officials have suggested that Belarus’s close ties with Russia could also play a role in broader diplomatic efforts related to the war in Ukraine. President Lukashenko, in power for more than three decades, has increasingly relied on Moscow since the post-election unrest, reshaping the country’s foreign policy balance.