On September 11, 2025, Belarus released 52 political prisoners in a move that, at first glance, seemed to signal a rare moment of hope for those detained under President Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime. The release, brokered by the United States and accompanied by the partial lifting of sanctions on Belarus’ national airline, was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough and a potential step toward thawing the frosty relationship between Minsk and Washington. Yet, within hours, troubling details emerged that cast a long shadow over the apparent goodwill gesture.
According to multiple accounts gathered by international outlets including AP, Reuters, and Deutsche Welle, the prisoners were not simply freed—they were forcibly deported, stripped of their Belarusian passports, and handed temporary A4-sized certificates by Belarusian security services. These documents, issued by the Department of Citizenship and Migration (OGiM), do not qualify as valid identity papers. As a result, the released individuals found themselves in Lithuania, unable to return to their homeland and, in many cases, separated from their families with little more than the clothes on their backs and uncertainty about their futures.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of the Belarusian opposition, addressed the development at a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, on September 12. "Of course, we are so happy to see people free, but let's be honest, what happened yesterday wasn't real freedom. It was forced deportation," she said, as reported by AP and Deutsche Welle. Tsikhanouskaya emphasized that her team would work with partners in the United States to ensure that such practices are not repeated in future prisoner releases.
The details of the deportations are harrowing. Franak Viachorka, a senior adviser to Tsikhanouskaya, explained that about half of those released were nearing the end of their prison terms. "People were counting the days and months until their release, and suddenly they are deported, separated from their families; they have no passports, and they cannot return," he told AP and Reuters. The confusion and distress among the released prisoners were palpable. Aleksandr Mantsevich, one of those freed, told Reuters outside the U.S. embassy in Vilnius, "I wanted to go home, to my home in Belarus. They brought me here."
Many of the exiled prisoners expressed gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump for his role in brokering the deal. "I want to express my thanks," said Dzmitry Kuchuk, a former prisoner. "If I hadn't been pardoned, I would have remained in jail for six more years." Others, however, voiced a deep sense of loss and dislocation. Iryna Slaunikava, an opposition journalist, shared her heartbreak: "I want to go back home. I cannot imagine my life without Belarus. I want to go home. I don’t know if this is safe, but I really want to go home. I served out almost all of my sentence, with four months remaining. Haven’t I earned the right to live at home?"
The circumstances of the release have raised significant legal and ethical concerns. According to Leanid Marozau, Tsikhanouskaya’s advisor on legal affairs, the practice of confiscating passports and issuing invalid documents directly violates Belarus’ international human rights obligations. Marozau cited Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees everyone the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to it. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the conventions against statelessness further enshrine these rights. "People were stripped of their national passports and forcibly deported. This is not only a gross humiliation of human dignity but also a violation of international law and fundamental human rights," Marozau stated. He went on to suggest that the regime’s actions could potentially constitute a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, should they be proven as part of a broader policy of repression.
Among the 52 released were journalists, bloggers, party and union leaders, and at least 14 foreigners, according to AP. Notably, Ihar Losik, a journalist for the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was among those freed. The freed prisoners described grim conditions during their incarceration. Trade union leader Aliaksandr Yarashuk, sentenced to four years in prison, recounted, "I once almost died of cold in a punishment cell; I thought I would not survive the night." Blogger Mikalai Dzjadok, whose passport was reportedly torn apart by KGB officers, spent a year of his five-year sentence in solitary confinement, where he was deprived of medical care and visits from lawyers and family. "If people from the civilized world saw what a punishment cell is, they would think they were in the Middle Ages," Dzjadok said. "The world simply cannot imagine the scale of what is happening in Belarus, the human rights violations, the abuse, violence of all kinds: psychological, physical, sexual."
The fate of some released prisoners remains unclear. Mikalai Statkevich, a veteran opposition politician and one of the most high-profile detainees, refused to cross into Lithuania and attempted to return to Belarus. According to his wife, Marina Adamovič, there has been no contact with him since his attempt. Viachorka speculated that Statkevich could face re-arrest or new charges, highlighting the regime’s dilemma: "Lukashenko’s regime has a problem, because he was officially released from jail but they cannot allow him to go home in Belarus. They will probably give him another criminal case."
The Belarusian government has not commented publicly on the situation, and President Lukashenko—who has ruled the country of 9.5 million for over three decades—remains under intense scrutiny for his human rights record and for allowing Moscow to use Belarusian territory in its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The release, while the largest group to be pardoned by Lukashenko, falls far short of the 1,300 or more that Western leaders and opposition figures have called for. According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, approximately 1,159 political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus as of September 2025.
Tsikhanouskaya and her team are now seeking international support to pressure the Lukashenko regime to allow released political prisoners the right to remain in Belarus, rather than being forced into exile. "People have to have the right to stay in Belarus," she insisted. The opposition is also calling for a thorough international legal assessment of the deportations and for continued attention to the plight of those still imprisoned.
As the dust settles on this latest episode in Belarus’ ongoing political crisis, one thing is clear: for many of those released, the journey to true freedom is far from over. Their stories now serve as a stark reminder of the lengths to which authoritarian regimes may go to maintain control—and the resilience of those who continue to resist.