AP
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Belarus has released Sergei Tykanovsky, the husband of Svetlana Tykanovskaya, a major opposition leader and exiled opposition leader, and after a rare visit by senior US officials, Tikanovskaya’s team announced on Saturday.
Popular blogger and activist Tikanovsky, who was imprisoned in 2020, arrived in Bilinus, Lithuania along with 13 other political prisoners, his wife’s team said. The release comes hours after Belarusian authorities announced that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko had met with the envoy of Ukrainian President Donald Trump in Minsk.
A video published on his wife’s official telegram account showed Tikanovsky unloaded a white minibus, showing a shaved head and a wide smile. He pulled Tikanovskaya into a long embrace as their supporters applauded.
“My husband is free. It’s difficult to explain the joys of my heart,” Tikanovskaya told reporters. However, she adds that the team’s work is “not over,” with over 1,100 political prisoners remaining behind Belarus’ bars.
Tikanovsky was jailed after announcing plans to challenge Lukashenko in the 2020 election. After his arrest, his wife ran in his place and rallyed a large crowd from around the country. The official election results handed Lukashenko for his sixth term in office, but were condemned by the opposition and the West for fakes.
Tikanovskaya left the country under pressure from the authorities as unprecedented protests erupted in the aftermath of the vote. Her husband was later sentenced to 19.5 years in prison for organizing a massive riot.
Other prominent dissidents remain in Belarusian prisons. Also behind the bar is Victor Bavarica, a former banker who was widely seen as Lukashenko’s main rival in 2020, and Maria Colles Nikova, the charismatic leader of the mass protests that year.
Released alongside Tikanovsky was longtime Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Ihal Karnei. Karnei, who also worked with the well-known Belarusian and Russian newspapers, had provided three years of service on charges of extremism that he rejected as a fake.
The Belarusian service of RFE/RL was designated as extremists in the country, a common label handed over to critics of Lukashenko’s government. As a result, working for it or spreading its content became a crime.
“We are deeply grateful to President Trump for securing the release of this brave journalist who was suffering at the hands of Belarusian authorities,” broadcaster CEO Stephen Capus said in a press release on Saturday.
Karnei was taken into custody several times while covering the 2020 protests. Unlike many of his colleagues, he chose to stay in Belarus despite subsequent oppression. He was arrested again in July 2023.
Belarus also liberated the Estonian people who established NGOs to raise funds for Belarusian refugees. According to the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alan Roio was detained last January and sentenced to six and a half years in prison for establishing an extremist organization.
