Cichanoŭskaja says release of all jailed dissidents to pave way to dialogue

July 10, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka wants western sanctions to be lifted without any real change, yet restrictions must be maintained, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja told diplomats from 22 countries yesterday in Vilnius, her aide Franak Viačorka told Pozirk.
Ending reprisals and releasing all political prisoners will constitute “the first step toward the national dialogue that Belarusian society so desperately needs,” the politician stressed.
Denmark, which took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months on July 1, hosted the closed briefing at its embassy. It brought together diplomats from Armenia, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States as well as the European Commission.
Cichanoŭskaja’s husband, opposition activist Siarhiej Cichanoŭski and 13 other prisoners were pardoned on June 21. The release followed a meeting in Minsk between Alaksandar Łukašenka and Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine.
Minsk has reportedly been engaged in negotiations with Washington since mid-2024 and has pardoned more than 300 imprisoned regime critics since then, yet human rights defenders are pushing for the release of more than 1,150 political prisoners still held behind bars in Belarus.

Reprisals: Belarusians risk arrests at border for social media reactions
- Politics, SecurityLithuania hands Belarus note of protest over drone incursionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka: drone carried 59 kilograms of explosives over MinskThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja meets with Finnish parliament speakerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- PoliticsBelarus adds 17 to extremist listThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecuritySpecial operation forces involved in fighting drones at the border, commander saysThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarus to open consulates general in Russia’s Kazan, Ufa and VoronezhThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- SocietyZielona Gora prosecutor launches investigation into Polish Business Harbor visa programThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyRights defenders identify seven more political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityLithuania finds drone that flew from Belarus on July 28The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- Politics, SecurityTusk disbands commission that probed Belarusian-Russian influenceThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- PoliticsŁatuška says Minsk trying to infiltrate exiled opposition circlesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka shrugs off sanctions, instructs diplomats to promote exports to EUThe material is available only to POZIRK+