Washington, D.C., June 21, 2025— The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) welcomes the release of prominent Belarusian political activist and blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 other political prisoners as part of a U.S.-negotiated agreement.
Siarhei Tsikhanouski was arrested in May 2020 on politically motivated charges intended to block his candidacy in the Belarusian presidential election. His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, entered the race in his stead and, according to all independent counts, won. The regime’s declaration of Lukashenka’s victory sparked the largest pro-democracy protests in Belarusian history and propelled Tsikhanouskaya as the leader of freedom-seeking Belarusians around the world. The fight for a free and independent Belarus continues to this day.
“We stand with Sviatlana and all our friends in the Belarusian pro-democracy movement in celebrating Siarhei’s release today,” said Damon Wilson, President and CEO of NED. “We share their joy at seeing Sviatlana and Siarhei reunited after five long years. Siarhei should never have spent a single day behind bars for his beliefs. We thank President Trump and Special Envoy Kellogg for their leadership in securing the release of Siarhei and other political prisoners.”
Convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 19.5 years in a high-security penal colony, Tsikhanouski, 46, spent over five years in detention—two of them in complete isolation with no proper access to a lawyer. Throughout this period, Tsikhanouskaya and her team campaigned tirelessly for his release and for the freedom of more than 1,100 political prisoners still held in Belarusian prisons. In 2024 she was awarded NED’s Democracy Service Medal in recognition of her efforts and leadership.
The National Endowment for Democracy reaffirms its unwavering support for the Belarus pro-democracy movement and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience.
Media inquiries: press@ned.org
