{"id":207631,"date":"2026-10-15T22:23:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T19:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T22:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T19:23:28","slug":"vilnius-freedom-summits-delegates-urge-belarus-to-release-all-political-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/","title":{"rendered":"Vilnius Freedom Summit\u2019s delegates urge Belarus to release all political prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>October 15, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Participants at the Vilnius Freedom Summit on October 15 adopted a joint statement calling on Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The delegates welcome US diplomatic efforts that had contributed to the release of political prisoners in Belarus and Venezuela but urged the governments of both countries to free all remaining dissidents and ensure their right to remain in their own countries and enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The delegates say that they \u201cremain steadfast supporting the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people and their right to determine the future of a free, democratic, and sovereign Belarus, expressing our full solidarity with Belarus\u2019 democratic leaders, independent journalists, human rights defenders, who continue to fight for freedom despite increasingly severe repression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The statement condemns the designation of Vilnius-based European Humanities University as an \u201cextremist organization\u201d by Belarusian authorities and calls for international cooperation to counter transnational repression targeting dissidents and activists beyond their countries&#8217; borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants pledge to pursue accountability for Russia&#8217;s war against Ukraine and call for the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainians, particularly children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organized by Lithuania\u2019s foreign ministry and Washington-based human rights watchdog Freedom House, the Vilnius Freedom Summit brought together human rights defenders, former political prisoners, representatives of democratic governments and civil society from Belarus, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/vilnius_sammit_svobody_press-sl_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/vilnius_sammit_svobody_press-sl_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/vilnius_sammit_svobody_press-sl_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/vilnius_sammit_svobody_press-sl_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/vilnius_sammit_svobody_press-sl_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/vilnius_sammit_svobody_press-sl_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Security<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics, Security<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Cichano\u016dskaja calls on Europe to unite against dictatorships<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">October 15, Pozirk. Belarusian democratic leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja has called on democratic countries to preserve European unity, strengthen the transatlantic alliance and maintain pressure on authoritarian regimes. In a keynote address at the Vilnius Freedom Summit on Thursday, Cichano\u016dskaja warned &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/207621\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 15, Pozirk. Participants at the Vilnius Freedom Summit on October 15 adopted a joint statement calling on Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners. The delegates welcome US diplomatic efforts that had contributed to the release of political prisoners in Belarus and Venezuela but urged the governments of both countries to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":93879,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-207631","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vilnius Freedom Summit\u2019s delegates urge Belarus to release all political prisoners | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October 15, Pozirk. Participants at the Vilnius Freedom Summit on October 15 adopted a joint statement calling on Belarusian authorities to immediately\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vilnius Freedom Summit\u2019s delegates urge Belarus to release all political prisoners | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 15, Pozirk. Participants at the Vilnius Freedom Summit on October 15 adopted a joint statement calling on Belarusian authorities to immediately\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-15T19:23:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/\"},\"headline\":\"Vilnius Freedom Summit\u2019s delegates urge Belarus to release all political prisoners\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-15T19:23:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-15T19:23:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/\"},\"wordCount\":232,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/\",\"name\":\"Vilnius Freedom Summit\u2019s delegates urge Belarus to release all political prisoners | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207631\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-15T19:23:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-15T19:23:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"October 15, Pozirk. 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