This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, has been released from a Belarusian prison after being held for more than three years on charges he, his employer, U.S. officials and human rights organizations called politically motivated.
The release of the father of two on February 12 comes a day after the Trump administration secured the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel from Russia, a key ally of Belarus.
“This is a joyous day for Andrey, his wife, Alesya, and their two young children. After more than three years apart, this family is together again thanks to President [Donald] Trump,” RFE/RL President & CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement on February 12, noting the efforts of Secretary of State Marco Rubio “and his team,” as well as the Lithuanian government for its support.
“We remain hopeful that our journalist Ihar Losik will also be released and look to the Trump administration for its continued leadership and guidance,” Capus added, referring to another RFE/RL journalist currently detained in Belarus.
Kuznechyk was arrested on November 25, 2021 after being followed home by four unidentified security agents, and initially sentenced to 10 days in jail on hooliganism charges that he rejected.
After serving that penalty, Kuznechyk was not released but charged again, this time for allegedly creating an extremist group, a move that officials didn’t reveal to Kuznechyk’s relatives and colleagues for months.
On June 8, 2022, the Mahilyou regional court in the country’s east found Kuznechyk guilty and sentenced him to six years in prison after a trial lasted just one day.
Human rights groups in Belarus had recognized Kuznechyk as a political prisoner and his case is seen as part of the larger campaign of repression against RFE/RL journalists and independent media in Belarus.
“Wonderful news,” Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to leave Belarus with her children over safety fears, said of Kuznechyk’s release.
The crackdown came the country was rocked by massive protests over a disputed 2020 presidential election that saw long-time authoritarian ruler Aleksandr Lukashenko emerge with his sixth consecutive term. The opposition and Western governments say the vote was rigged.
Last month, Belarusian state TV channel ONT aired several segments of a propaganda film about RFE/RL journalists held in Belarusian prisons, accusing them of “trying to set Belarus on fire.”
The series, Svaboda Slova (Freedom of Speech), appeared to be aimed at discrediting independent journalists who have been reporting on government abuses and repression in Belarus just ahead of a January 26 presidential election that Lukashenko also easily won.
In the segment, Kuznechyk appeared emaciated as he talked with one of the filmmakers in what looked to be prison surroundings. Dressed in a jacket and hat, he spoke in calm and measured tones but looked fatigued. The segment concluded with footage of him being escorted away under guard.
Losik, as well as Ihar Karney, who previously wrote for RFE/RL – both of whom remained in prison in Belarus – were the focus of subsequent segments of the film.
Meanwhile, American citizen Anastasia Nuhfer was unilaterally released from a Belarusian prison on January 26.
Details surrounding Nuhfer’s detention remain unclear, with her name previously absent from public discourse. Minsk never disclosed her name, and Washington does not release the names of detained Americans abroad without the consent of their families.