Overview
- Those released include prominent figures Maria Kolesnikowa, Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatksi and former presidential contender Viktor Babariko.
- The pardons followed two days of talks in Minsk between Alexander Lukashenko and US special envoy John Coale, who said Washington would lift sanctions on Belarusian potash exports.
- Ukraine’s prisoner coordination office said it received 114 civilians from Belarus, while several others, including Bialiatksi, were sent to Lithuania after medical checks.
- Germany said it will receive Kolesnikowa and Babariko, with Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announcing their admission.
- Lukashenko’s office said the move came at President Donald Trump’s request, as opposition figures and rights groups cautioned that many political prisoners remain and EU sanctions stay in place.