{"id":129224,"date":"2025-03-09T18:14:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T15:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/129224\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"opposition-maintains-contacts-with-washington-regarding-belarus-cichanouskaja","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/129224\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition maintains contacts with Washington regarding Belarus \u2013 Cichano\u016dskaja"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 9, Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>The Belarusian pro-democracy forces are in constant contact with the United States regarding the situation in Belarus and the fate of people imprisoned in politically-motivated cases, Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja has told Pozirk<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot depends for us on the geopolitical context right now and we have to understand that, but our communication regarding the release of political prisoners goes on almost daily,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cichano\u016dskaja stressed the need to maintain pressure on Minsk, linking a possible dialogue with the current Belarusian authorities to an end to politically-motivated reprisals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Minsk released former RFE\/RL<\/em> journalist Andrej Ku\u017anie\u010dyk, opposition activist Alena Ma\u016d\u0161uk and US citizen Nikolay Shugaev. All three left Belarus upon their release with the help of US diplomats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher Smith, US deputy assistant secretary of state, described picking up Ku\u017anie\u010dyk and Ma\u016d\u0161uk in Belarus as a special operation in his comment to CNN<\/em>, praising US President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cpeace through strength\u201d strategy for the liberation of US citizen Shugaev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of March 9, human rights defenders identified at least 1,219 political prisoners in Belarus but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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