Belarus on Thursday freed 52 prisoners, including an employee of the European Union, in a transfer to Lithuania brokered after an appeal by U.S. President Donald Trump — a move that many released detainees and opposition figures described as effectively forced exile rather than genuine liberation.
Several people released said they were confused and distressed to find themselves driven to the U.S. embassy in Vilnius and sent to Lithuania, with some having been close to the end of their jail terms. "I wanted (to go) home, to my home in Belarus. They brought me here," said Aleksandr Mantsevich outside the embassy after his release.
Opposition officials said about half of those released were due to complete their sentences within months, and that the transfers amounted to forced deportations that separate people from families and strip them of the right to remain in their homeland. "Just imagine, they were looking forward to getting free soon, and suddenly they find themselves deported, separated from family, they don’t have passports, and they can’t go back," said senior opposition official Franak Viacorka.
One of the most prominent released figures, opposition politician Mikola Statkevich, refused to enter Lithuania and returned to Belarus, according to his wife, Marina Adamovic, who told reporters she had had no contact with him since. Viacorka said Statkevich would likely be rearrested and possibly charged with new offences, calling attention to the potential for renewed legal action against those who decline exile.
Other released detainees described abrupt and disorienting removals from detention. Pavel Vinogradov said he was taken from jail with a sack over his head and had been due to see his young son for the first time in four years; instead he arrived in Lithuania. Iryna Slaunikava, an opposition journalist who served two years and eight months behind bars, said she was distressed at being unable to return to Belarus with four months still left on her sentence and pleaded for the right to live at home.
Those released arrived at the U.S. embassy in Vilnius after being removed from Belarusian jails, the culmination of a deal that followed a request from Trump, amid ongoing contacts between Washington and Minsk. The rapprochement has drawn scepticism from many European leaders, who have questioned the Belarusian government's motives and the terms of the transfers.
Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who leads from exile, said Western governments should demand that Belarus allow former political prisoners to remain in the country if they choose. "People have to have right to stay in Belarus," she said.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has faced sustained international criticism, sanctions and domestic protests over his handling of dissent. The transfer of prisoners to Lithuania after foreign intervention raises new questions about whether releases will be permanent and whether those who return or remain in Belarus will face further legal pressure.
Human rights advocates and opposition figures say the manner of the releases — with some prisoners taken directly out of cells and driven to a foreign embassy — undercuts claims that the move represents a step toward reconciliation or greater civil liberties. The immediate future for many of those freed remains uncertain: some want to return to their families and communities in Belarus, others face the prospect of exile and separation, and a number could encounter new legal action if they return.
European capitals have voiced concern about the optics and implications of the U.S.-brokered arrangement amid broader geopolitical calculations involving Minsk. For now, the freed detainees and their families must navigate travel, documentation and resettlement questions while Belarusian authorities and opposition leaders weigh next steps in a dispute that continues to divide domestic and international opinion.