Tichanovsky was imprisoned in connection with the presidential election in 2020, where he stood as a candidate, but where Alexander Lukashenko's regime chose to imprison him. He was sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison in trials that were considered summary by independent human rights groups. He was charged with, among other things, incitement and having damaged national security.
The release came unexpectedly on Saturday, and Sergei Tichanovsky was received at an unknown location in Lithuania after being taken from prison in Belarus. According to government sources in Vilnius, the regime critic was "in a safe place in Lithuania" and was receiving care. The human rights group Viasna had previously confirmed that Tichanovsky had been pardoned.
Visited homeland
The 68-year-old Halina Krasnyanskaya was also released on Saturday. She has long lived in Sweden, but often visited her homeland Belarus and was arrested during a visit. Krasnyanskaya was sentenced to five years in prison for having given her support to opposition members, according to Viasna.
Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys confirmed on Saturday that 14 political prisoners had been released. But opposition leader Tichanovskaya stated bluntly on social platforms that more political prisoners must be released: "We are not finished. 1,150 political prisoners are still behind bars. All must be released."
Tichanovskaya took over the role of opposition leader, but has been operating in exile since the suspected rigged election in 2020.
Tichanovskaya writes "free" in capital letters and publishes a video where her husband hugs her.
Thanks Trump
According to Tichanovskaya, the United States has been involved in getting her husband released.
"It's hard to describe the joy that fills my heart," she writes on X and thanks both US President Donald Trump and the White House envoy Keith Kellogg - as well as European governments.
Several opposition members were sentenced to long prison terms in the regime's harsh crackdown on critics. Belarus leader Lukashenko received support from Russia and the Kremlin in the attacks on opposition members. Many are still imprisoned in Belarus.
Svetlana Tichanovskaya has on several occasions been invited to Sweden and met with Swedish ministers to report on developments in Belarus.
