Exclusive – White -Russian dissident Siarahei Tsikhanouski is free after spending more than five years as a political prisoner, and now he calls for those who are still released behind bars.
In a video message that was played on Thursday before the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva, Tsikhanouski has a desperate plea for international intervention.
SiaRhei Tsikhanouski calls for international action in his video message at the United Nations.
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Tsikhanouski has credited the international community – especially the Trump government – for his release, which was secured after the special envoy of the US on Ukraine and Russia, General Keith Kellogg, met the Wit -Russian President Alexander Lukashenko. In addition to Tsikhanouski, 13 other political prisoners were released by American mediation.
De Wit -Russian dissident said in the video that he would not have made it alive if it was not for “international solidarity” and “the efforts of the US government”.
White -Russian opposition leader Syarhei Tsikhanouski hugs his wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya after being released from prison, in this scenargrab of a video on social media that was released on June 21, 2025. (Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya via X/Via Reuters)
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In his first speech as a special rapporteur of the UN about the situation of human rights in Wit -Russia, Nils Muižnieks warned that the human rights situation has been ‘continued to deteriorate’ since January 2025. He also noted that the authorities in Wit -Russia have abused ‘very problematic’ legislation, including a ban on insulting the president or other officials.
“White -Russia has a very large number of people behind bars that should not be there, including opposition politicians, human rights defenders, journalists, independent trade union activists, environmental defenders and lawyers,” said Muižnieks before the video of Tsikhanouski was played. He also described the abuse of prisoners by the Belarusian authorities.
After the council had heard the message from Tsikhanouski, Muižnieks said that the words of the recently Freine dissident ‘extra weight’.
After his release, Tsikhanouski was reunited with his wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and their children in Lithuania. Tsikhanouskaya is the banished Belarusian opposition leader who recognizes some countries as the chosen president.
Tsikhanouskaya thanked President Donald Trump, Kellogg and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their efforts, which led to the freedom of her husband.
“My husband Siarhei is free! It is difficult to describe the joy in my heart,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on x. “We are not ready yet. 1,150 political prisoners stay behind bars. Everything must be released.”
SiaRhei Tsikhanouski, a white -Russian opposition activist released from a prison by De Wit -Russian authorities, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
UN work director Hillel Neuer joined the call to see the remaining 1,150 prisoners see their freedom.
Neuer said that Tsikhanouski’s message to the UN “was a direct challenge for the regimes that keep their critics silent”.
A liberated Siarhei Tsikhanouski contains a photo of himself taken before he was held behind bars for more than five years. (Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya via X)
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Thursday 26 June also marks the International Day to support victims of torture. Tsikhanouskaya wrote on X to mark the opportunity and shared a photo that illustrated the effects that had five years in prison for her husband.
“Today is the international day to support the victims of torture. My husband survived for five years of isolation and cruelty in the prisons of the Wit -Russia. Many others still tolerate it. If we had given it up, Siarhei would not be free.
According to NPRTsikhanouski lost more than 41% of his body weight. He went into prison with a weight of 298 pounds, but weighed only 174 pounds when he was released on June 21.
