Ten journalists among 52 political prisoners released in Belarus

On Sep­tem­ber 11, 2025, Belaru­sian author­i­ties released 52 polit­i­cal pris­on­ers fol­low­ing nego­ti­a­tions with a U.S. del­e­ga­tion led by John Coale. Among them were twelve jour­nal­ists and media work­ers who had faced harsh prison sen­tences for their pro­fes­sion­al activ­i­ties.

KGB build­ing in Min­sk

Iry­na Slau­nika­va, a jour­nal­ist with Bel­sat TV, was arrest­ed in Octo­ber 2021 and sen­tenced on August 3, 2022, by the Homiel Region­al Court to five years in prison for “orga­niz­ing, prepar­ing or par­tic­i­pat­ing in actions that con­sti­tute a severe breach of pub­lic order” and for “cre­at­ing an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.”
Iry­na Slau­nika­va. Pho­to: Iryna’s Face­book page

Ihar Losik, a con­sul­tant for the Radio Free Europe/Radio Lib­er­ty Belarus and admin­is­tra­tor of the Telegram chan­nel Belarus’ Golovno­go Moz­ga, was arrest­ed on June 25, 2020, and sen­tenced to 15 years — the harsh­est sen­tence giv­en to an inde­pen­dent jour­nal­ist or blog­ger in Belarus.
Ihar Losik. Video screen­shot, Jan­u­ary 14, 2025

Miko­la Dzi­adok, a con­trib­u­tor to Novy Chas and blog­ger, was arrest­ed in Novem­ber 2020 and sen­tenced on Novem­ber 10, 2021 to five years in prison on mul­ti­ple crim­i­nal charges.
Miko­la Dzi­adok. Cour­tesy pho­to

Pavel Mazhei­ka, a Hrod­na-based jour­nal­ist, was arrest­ed on August 30, 2022, and sen­tenced by the Hrod­na Region­al Court on July 26, 2023 to six years in prison for “assist­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ties.”
Polit­i­cal pris­on­er Pavel Mazhe­j­ka released

Ali­ak­san­dr Mant­se­vich, edi­tor-in-chief of Rehi­janal­na­ja Haze­ta in Mal­adziech­na, was arrest­ed on March 15, 2023 and sen­tenced on Novem­ber 3, 2023 to four years in prison and a hefty fine for “dis­cred­it­ing the Repub­lic of Belarus.”
Ali­ak­san­dr Mant­se­vich

Larysa Shchyrako­va, a jour­nal­ist from Homiel, was arrest­ed on Decem­ber 6, 2022 and sen­tenced on August 31, 2022 to three and a half years in prison for “dis­cred­it­ing Belarus” and “assist­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ties.”

Yauhen Merkis, a jour­nal­ist, his­to­ri­an, and region­al researcher from Homiel, was arrest­ed on Sep­tem­ber 13, 2022, and sen­tenced in May 2023 to four years in prison for “assist­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ties” and “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.”
Larysa Shchyrako­va and Yauhen Merkis. File pho­to

Ale­na Timashchuk, a Brest jour­nal­ist who worked with sev­er­al region­al out­lets includ­ing Brest­skaya Gaze­ta and Vech­erniy Brest, was sen­tenced on June 3, 2024, by the Brest Region­al Court to five years in prison and a large fine under three arti­cles of the Crim­i­nal Code, includ­ing “dis­cred­it­ing Belarus” and “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.”
Jour­nal­ist Ale­na Timashchuk. Pho­to: per­son­al Face­book page

Viachaslau Laza­rau, a free­lance video oper­a­tor from Vit­seb­sk, was arrest­ed on Feb­ru­ary 9, 2023, and sen­tenced in Novem­ber 2023 to five years in prison for “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.”
Free­lance video oper­a­tor Viachaslau Laza­rau released from prison

Pavel Pad­abed, a free­lance video oper­a­tor, was arrest­ed on Jan­u­ary 20, 2023, and sen­tenced on June 30, 2023, by the Min­sk City Court to four years in prison for “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.”
Video oper­a­tor Pavel Pad­abed released

Zmitser Kazlou, founder of the YouTube chan­nel Seryi Kot, was arrest­ed on June 10, 2020, and ini­tial­ly sen­tenced in May 2021 to four and a half years in prison for “prepar­ing to par­tic­i­pate in mass unrest.” In Novem­ber 2024, an addi­tion­al year was added to his sen­tence for “dis­obe­di­ence to prison author­i­ties.”
Blog­ger Zmitser Kazlou (Seryi Kot) released

Pavel Vinahradau, a civic activist, blog­ger, and TV pre­sen­ter, was arrest­ed on Decem­ber 22, 2021, in Biarezi­no, Min­sk Region. On March 16, 2022, the Min­sk Region­al Court sen­tenced him to five years in prison on charges of “incit­ing racial, nation­al, reli­gious, or oth­er social hatred,” “orga­niz­ing, prepar­ing or par­tic­i­pat­ing in actions that con­sti­tute a severe breach of pub­lic order,” and “defama­tion of the pres­i­dent.”
Pavel Vinahradau on tri­al in Vaukavysk, Decem­ber 6, 2023. Pho­to: BAJ

At the moment, 27 oth­er jour­nal­ists and media work­ers remain behind bars, some with lengthy sen­tences.

The release of polit­i­cal pris­on­ers is both joy­ful and alarm­ing news, as it requires con­tin­ued sup­port and involve­ment. After years behind bars, many of those freed are being forcibly deport­ed from their home coun­try, often with seri­ous health issues and no means of liveli­hood.

The BYSOL sol­i­dar­i­ty fund announced that each released per­son will receive €1,000 from the Inter­na­tion­al Human­i­tar­i­an Fund, but this amount is far from suf­fi­cient to cov­er their urgent needs. A fundrais­ing cam­paign has been launched to raise €50,000 to pro­vide essen­tial assis­tance to the freed polit­i­cal pris­on­ers.