Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is seen in the defendants’ cage in the courtroom at the start of the hearing in Minsk on January 5, 2023. Belarus has freed 123 prisoners, including protest leader Maria Kalesnikava and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Belarus has freed 123 prisoners, including protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, rights groups and State media reported on Saturday (December 13, 2025), after a U.S. envoy earlier said Washington was lifting sanctions on Belarusian potassium.
“The head of State has decided to pardon 123 citizens of various countries,” the Belarusian state news agency Belta said.
Rights group Viasna said prominent 2020 protests leader Maria Kolesnikova was among them.
Published – December 13, 2025 07:31 pm IST
