Nobel Laureate Byalyatski: Continued Pressure Needed For Political Prisoner Releases In Belarus

The potential release of political prisoners in connection with an anticipated visit by a senior US envoy could signal limited progress in negotiations with strongman Aleksandr Lukashenko's government, but repression will persist without sustained international pressure, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski has told RFE/RL.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Belarus Service, Byalyatski, a veteran activist who was himself released and removed from Belarus in a US-brokered deal in December 2025 after nearly five years in prison, said negotiations between Lukashenko's authoritarian state and Western officials have increasingly taken on the character of hostage diplomacy.

“It resembles negotiations with terrorists when hostages are involved. In fact, our political prisoners are in a similar position,” said Byalyatski, 63, who shared the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize with rights activists from Ukraine and Russia and now heads the Vyasna Human Rights Center, an exiled Belarusian organization.

Belarus has freed groups of activists, journalists, opposition politicians, and others considered political prisoners in deals engineered by the US over the past year, including the release of Byalyatski and 122 other prisoners in December. A small group, mostly women, were released earlier this month.

Activists hope a possible visit in the coming days by John Coale, US President Donald Trump's special envoy for Belarus, will result in the release of numerous prisoners.

“We hope that the number of those released will be larger than in December," Byalyatski said.

Pressure And Sanctions

According to Belarusian rights groups, more than 1,000 people remain imprisoned on politically motivated charges following a sweeping crackdown on dissent that began after the 2020 presidential election, in which Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory and a sixth term in a vote millions of Belarusians believe was stolen.

“We continue to receive information about new arrests, beatings, and long prison sentences for journalists,” Byalyatski told RFE/RL in the interview in Prague.

Lukashenko has been in power since 1994, extending his rule through elections deemed illegitimate in much of the West. Belarus has faced multiple rounds of sanctions from the United States and the European Union over the government's human rights abuses, antidemocratic actions, and support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Byalyatski said the prisoner releases are the result of "long-term economic and political pressure” from the West. He said that the authorities "are looking for a way out of the difficult economic situation and are trying to ease the sanctions pressure.... In relation to the Americans, this is partially successful."

The US has engaged with Belarus in Trump's current term. Trump spoke to Lukashenko by phone in August 2025, and on September 11, 2025, when Belarus freed 51 prisoners, Coale met with Lukashenko and announced the US would lift sanctions on Belarusian national air carrier Belavia.

The release of Byalysatski and 122 others in December was preceded by an announcement that Washington was lifting sanctions on Belarus’s lucrative fertilizer exports -- including its biggest company, Belaruskali -- which provide major source of income to Lukashenko’s regime.

Without going into specifics, Byalyatski warned that lifting sanctions prematurely would be a mistake while repression continues.

"Independent organizations in Belarus are now being labeled extremist. For instance, Belarusian PEN, which brought together writers and cultural figures, has recently been added to this registry, along with the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Vyasna Human Rights Center," Byalyatski said.

"In fact, the entire independent civil sector has been pushed out of Belarus. Because of this, ending repression is a necessary precondition; lifting sanctions without it would be unwise," he said.

Exile Or Freedom At Home?

A key question for many prisoners is whether they will be allowed to remain in Belarus after their release. Byalyatski and many others considered political prisoners were deported upon release. He said the issue of allowing prisoners to stay in the country had previously been raised in talks with Belarusian authorities.

“Some people have sick parents or other reasons to stay,” he said. “Not everyone wants to leave the country.”

According to Byalyatski, Lukashenko previously rejected such proposals. However, he believes the government’s position may now be evolving.

“It is possible that those who are amnestied will be given a choice: to stay or to leave,” he said.

Byalyatski pointed to the ordeal of veteran opposition politician Mikalay Statkevich as an example of the pressures faced by political prisoners.

Statkevich, who is 69 and has spent more than 12 of the last 20 years behind bars, was one of dozens freed in September, but he refused to leave Belarus after his release and was rearrested later the same month. In February, he was released from prison again after suffering a stroke.

Last week in Prague, Statkevich's wife, Maryna Adamovich, accepted an international human rights award on his behalf from the Czech humanitarian organization People in Need. Byalyatski said the recognition reflects the continued international attention to the plight of Belarusian political prisoners.

“Mikalay has always been a fighter,” he said. “Unfortunately, this struggle has had a serious impact on his health.”

Byalyatski also cautioned that international awards rarely influence decisions by Belarusian authorities.

“Even the Nobel Prize did not immediately change my own situation,” he said. “I remained in prison for three more years.”

Culture, Repression, And Justice

Byalyatski said repression in Belarus has increasingly targeted cultural figures and the Belarusian language.

“There is an attack on Belarusian culture and language in recent months,” he said.

He suggested this could partly reflect signals from Moscow, though he also noted that the country’s powerful security apparatus has its own incentives.

“People inside the repressive structures need to show results every month,” he said. “They build careers by destroying other people’s lives.”

An investigation launched by the International Criminal Court into alleged crimes linked to Belarusian authorities is an important step toward accountability and "a kind of victory for the Belarusian human rights community,” Byalyatski said, but he cautioned that the process will likely take years.

“Materials will be collected with the help of human rights organizations and activists who have left Belarus,” he said. “This is a long-term process.”

A Long Struggle

Byalyatski was imprisoned from 2011 to 2014 and from 2021 to 2025 on tax evasion charges he and supporters say were politically motivated fabrications. He said the Peace Prize, awarded while he was behind bars, helped draw international attention to the situation in Belarus but did not change his immediate circumstances.

He told RFE/RL that he is still adjusting to life after prison, and that recovery takes time.

"But now, I have the chance to travel internationally and I use these trips to speak about the situation in Belarus," Byalyatski stressed. “The world changes quickly. We must constantly remind people what is happening in our country.”

Referring to the upcoming 30th anniversary of the founding of the Vyasna Human Rights Center, Byalyatski said the ultimate goal remains unchanged.

“The best gift,” he said, “would be a democratic and free Belarus where we can return home.”