A top Belarus opposition leader, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, has been released from jail after being pardoned, Belarusian human rights group Viasna said on Saturday, June 21. His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who took over the opposition cause after his jailing, shared a video of him smiling and embracing her after his release with the caption: “FREE.” Tsikhanouski, 46, had been imprisoned for more than five years.
He planned to run against incumbent Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election, but was arrested and detained weeks before the vote. His wife, Sviatlana, a political novice at the time of his arrest, took his place in the polls.
He was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for “organizing riots” and “inciting hatred” and then to 18 months extra for “insubordination.”
Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has outlawed all opposition movements and is the only European country to retain the death penalty as a punishment. There are more than 1,000 political prisoners in the country, according to Viasna.
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