Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenka has released opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava and Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski from prison, UNN reports, citing Belarusian media and Telegram channels.
In total, Belarus has released 123 political prisoners, according to Lukashenka's press service.
Kalesnikava became one of the key figures of the Belarusian opposition after the 2020 presidential elections. She headed Viktor Babaryka's campaign headquarters, and after his arrest, she joined Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's team. In September 2020, Kalesnikava was detained after an attempt to forcibly expel her from Belarus, which she thwarted by tearing up her passport at the border.
In 2021, a court sentenced her to 11 years in prison on charges of conspiring to seize power. Kalesnikava spent more than a year and a half in strict isolation. For almost two years, her family and lawyers could not contact her. Only in November 2024 was she allowed a short meeting with her father, which was the first confirmation of her condition in a long time.
It later became known that Nobel laureate, Belarusian political prisoner Ales Bialiatski, former presidential candidate of Belarus Viktor Babaryka, and lawyer Maksim Znak were released.
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