U.S. presidential special envoy John Cole published the first group photo of political prisoners freed on 16 September after talks with dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka. “25 prisoners are free today! … We’re not done yet!” he wrote on X. All 25 were taken to Lithuania. In exchange, the United States lifts sanctions on two Belarusian companies.
The deal: people for Lakokraska and Bellesbumprom
Talks in Minsk ran on 15–16 September. Under the agreement, Belarus frees 25 people; the U.S. lifts sanctions on Lakokraska and the Bellesbumprom concern. Cole told reporters it was an “interim deal,” with more releases and sanctions relief to follow. He had earlier hoped for hundreds in one visit — fewer came out than many in the opposition and rights community expected. For those who walked free, it still ends the cell.
Human Rights Watch stresses that forced expulsion as a condition of “freedom” violates international law. Since summer 2025, hundreds of those released have been taken abroad — sometimes without passports. Roughly 886 people remain behind bars on politically motivated grounds, rights defenders estimate.
Who is in the photo: media, music, rights work
Among those freed: former CEO of the crushed TUT.BY Liudmila Chekina (12 years in a colony), founder of Art Siadziba and Symbal.by Pavel Belous (13 years), BelAPAN director Dzmitry Navazhylau, BelAPAN manager Andrei Aliaksandrau and his wife Iryna Zlobina (they married in detention), Tor Band musicians Yauhen Burlo, Dzmitry Halavach and Andrei Yaremchyk, lawyer Anastasiya Lazarenka, Homiel Viasna volunteer Sviatlana Yakubovich, political scientist Tatsiana Kuzina (Sympa), and European Belarus activist Alena Lazarchyk.
Also on the list: Pavel Petruchenia (Black Book of Belarus case), former investigator Yauhen Yushkevich, Stary Olsa musician Ales Chumakou, journalist Kiryl Pazniak and his daughter Yanina Pazniak, book publisher Dzmitry Kolas, entrepreneur Volha Stroyeva (67, Homiel), former security officer Kiryl Hniazdzilau, plus Dzianis Salmanovich, Illia Verameyeu, Andrei Tsaliuk, Siarhei Rabtsau (Zeltser case), and Yana Pinchuk.
In Vilnius they were met by relatives, colleagues, former political prisoners, and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Aliaksandrau and Zlobina smiled for cameras; Yushkevich could not hold back tears; Belous spoke with his wife at the border — Nasha Niva reported.
Full list of those released on 16 September
- Andrei Aliaksandrau — BelAPAN manager
- Pavel Belous — Symbal.by / Art Siadziba founder
- Yauhen Burlo — Tor Band musician
- Illia Verameyeu — Telegram chat messages after the war began
- Dzmitry Halavach — Tor Band musician
- Kiryl Hniazdzilau — former security officer, IT specialist
- Iryna Zlobina — Aliaksandrau’s wife, BY_help case
- Dzmitry Kolas — book publisher
- Tatsiana Kuzina — political scientist, Sympa
- Alena Lazarchyk — European Belarus activist
- Anastasiya Lazarenka — lawyer
- Dzmitry Navazhylau — BelAPAN director
- Kiryl Pazniak — journalist
- Yanina Pazniak — journalist, Kiryl Pazniak’s daughter
- Pavel Petruchenia — Black Book of Belarus case
- Yana Pinchuk — Telegram channel administrator
- Siarhei Rabtsau — Zeltser case
- Dzianis Salmanovich — Telegram channels / Cyber Partisans
- Volha Stroyeva — entrepreneur, Homiel
- Andrei Tsaliuk — “extremist messages”
- Ales Chumakou — Stary Olsa musician
- Liudmila Chekina — TUT.BY CEO
- Yauhen Yushkevich — former investigator
- Sviatlana Yakubovich — Viasna volunteer
- Andrei Yaremchyk — Tor Band musician
The list is compiled from Nasha Niva, REFORM.news and Belsat.
What next
Cole promises more rounds. The dictatorship trades people in batches — and keeps jailing new ones. Joy for twenty-five does not cancel hundreds behind bars, or the price of “freedom” — exile from home. “We’re not done yet” is the right line. Done means everyone free.