"Dozens of political prisoners who were released by Belarus as part of a US-brokered deal this week were forcibly deported, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a leader of the Belarusian opposition, said Friday. Minsk freed 52 prisoners on Thursday as part of an agreement that was brokered by the United States, which will see sanctions on Belarus' national airline lifted. The prisoner release was announced after White House special envoy John Coale met with Belarus' longtime authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk."
"The agreement could be a sign of improving ties between the US and Belarus, which has been ruled for over 30 years by Lukashenko and has faced sanctions and isolation from the West for years due to its close relationship with Moscow and its support for Russia's war in Ukraine. "Of course, we are so happy to see people free, but let's be honest, what happened yesterday wasn't real freedom. It was forced deportation," Tsikhanouskaya told a press conference on Friday."
Belarus released 52 political prisoners under a United States-brokered agreement that will lead to the lifting of sanctions on Belarus' national airline. The release followed a meeting between White House special envoy John Coale and President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said many of the released prisoners were forcibly deported to Lithuania and described the action as not genuine freedom. Some former prisoners thanked US President Donald Trump for his role in brokering the deal, while others said they would have preferred to remain in Belarus because many were close to the ends of their sentences. Tsikhanouskaya called for the release of remaining political prisoners.
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