A press conference by released Belarusian political prisoners was held at a hospital in Chernihiv. A day earlier, on December 13, the Belarusian authorities freed 123 people, including foreign nationals. Those released included Maria Kolesnikova, Viktor Babariko and Ales Bialiatski, winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. Organizers said the event was held under security restrictions, and the location was withheld because of the risk of a Russian strike.
Kolesnikova said the former prisoners still struggle to find words to describe how happy they are to be free. She thanked her family, those who supported her during imprisonment, as well as Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian people and Alexander Lukashenko. She said the released Belarusians had felt care and support at every stage, but that more than a thousand people convicted on political charges still remain in Belarusian prisons.
“I learned about my release when I saw Ukrainian officials who told me I was in a free country,” Kolesnikova said.
She added that on the morning before her release she had still been working at a factory, and that she only learned she was in Ukraine after arrival. The released prisoners had been kept uninformed, although they knew about contacts between a Trump representative and Alexander Lukashenko. Kolesnikova also said she planned to spend the next month with her family and focusing on her health, and made clear she does not intend to link her future life to Ukraine.
Babariko said that until the very end he thought they were being taken to Brest rather than to Ukraine. According to Viasna human rights center representative Vladimir Labkovich, the group was taken out without passports and given only release certificates. He said their legal status has not yet been settled, but added that they would not be sent back. Labkovich also said that, according to available information, Mikalai Statkevich remains imprisoned.
Babariko said he had been almost completely cut off from information in prison and had only learned the day before that his son Eduard was being held in Orsha in a strict-regime penal colony and had received an additional two years. He also said that in 2023 he suffered episodes of loss of consciousness; after one of them he woke up with broken ribs, multiple cuts and a damaged lung. At the same time, he stressed that he could not claim he had been beaten because he does not know what happened while he was unconscious.
Alexander Feduta said that after his release he intended to focus on his health and would like to step away from politics. Asked about the war, the participants said they had only limited information, but spoke against the war and in favor of ending it. Babariko said he did not regret his decision to take part in the 2020 campaign, while Kolesnikova said she had no doubt that her choice had been the right one.