Belarus releases 250 political prisoners in a deal with the US to lift
some sanctions
[March 20, 2026]
By YURAS KARMANAU
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander
Lukashenko on Thursday ordered the release of 250 political prisoners as
part of a deal with Washington that lifted some U.S. sanctions, the
latest step in the isolated leader’s effort to improve ties with the
West.
Lukashenko pardoned the prisoners after meeting with U.S. President
Donald Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, in the Belarus
capital of Minsk. Coale hailed the release as a “significant
humanitarian milestone” and a testament to Trump’s “commitment to
direct, hard-nosed diplomacy.” It marked the largest one-time release of
political prisoners in the country.
Coale told reporters that the U.S. will lift sanctions from two
Belarusian state banks and the country's Finance Ministry, and that the
top Belarusian potash producers have been removed from a sanctions list.
Belarus' opposition leader-in-exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, hailed
the prisoners' release as “a moment of great relief and hope.”
“After years of isolation, people are now free and can finally embrace
their loved ones,” Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press. “There is
nothing more powerful than seeing someone who endured unjust
imprisonment reunited with their family.”
She thanked Trump and his officials for their "tireless efforts to
secure the release of political prisoners," adding that “these
humanitarian efforts are saving lives.”
The last time U.S. officials met with Lukashenko, in December,
Washington announced the easing of sanctions on Belarus' potash sector,
a key source of export revenue, and 123 prisoners were released and sent
to Ukraine and Lithuania.
A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced isolation for years. Lukashenko
has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than
three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western
countries — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing
Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in
2022.
Lukashenko’s rule was challenged after a 2020 presidential election,
when tens of thousands poured into the streets to protest a vote they
viewed as rigged. They were the largest demonstrations since Belarus
became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
In an ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were detained, with many
beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country
or were imprisoned.
Five years after the mass demonstrations, Lukashenko won a seventh term
last year in an election that the opposition called a farce.
More recently, Belarus has freed some political prisoners to try to win
favor with the West. Since Trump returned to the White House last year,
Lukashenko has released dozens of prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Ales Bialiatski and key dissident figures Siarhei Tsikhanouski,
Viktar Babaryka and Maria Kolesnikova.
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In this photo released by Belarusian presidential press service,
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and U.S.
Presidential envoy John Coale talk during their meeting in Minsk,
Belarus, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Belarusian Presidential Press
Service via AP)
Trump spoke to Lukashenko by phone in August 2025 after one such
release and even suggested a face-to-face meeting in what would be a
big victory for the Belarusian leader, who has been dubbed “Europe’s
Last Dictator.”
Dzianis Kuchynski, an adviser to Tsikhanouskaya, said that 15 of the
250 prisoners arrived in Lithuania following their release.
They included Valiantsin Stefanovich and Marfa Rabkova of the
prominent Belarus human rights group Viasna. Stefanovich was serving
a nine-year sentence on charges of smuggling money to finance
activities violating the public order after his arrest in 2023.
Rabkova was sentenced to 14 years and nine months following her 2020
arrest and conviction on charges of organizing riots and inciting
hatred, accusations widely seen as a punishment for documenting
human rights abuses.
Nasta Loika, 37, an activist with the international rights group
Human Constanta, was also released. She was sentenced to seven years
in prison after her arrest in 2022 on charges of organizing mass
unrest and inciting hatred - charges widely seen as retaliation for
her activism.
Also freed was Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, 32, who also goes by the last
name of Andreyeva, a journalist of the Polish-funded Belsat TV
channel who was arrested in 2020 while covering mass anti-government
protests in Minsk. She was sentenced to more than eight years in
prison on convictions for violating public order and treason.
Eduard Palchys, a 35-year-old opposition blogger, was also among
those pardoned by Lukashenko. He was convicted of causing harm to
Belarus’ national security and organizing mass unrest over his role
in coordinating the demonstrations in 2020. and sentenced to 13
years in prison.
Like previously released prisoners, they were all sent to Lithuania
without passports or other identity papers. Kuchynski denounced it
as a “mockery” by Belarusian authorities seeking to make the lives
of the released prisoners more abroad more difficult.
Just before the latest announcement of releases, the Viasna group
had estimated that there were more than 1,100 political prisoners in
the country.
Tsikhanouskaya emphasized that “many people are still behind bars”
and "our goal remains unchanged — to free them all and to put a
final end to repression, so that every Belarusian can live freely in
their own country.”
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