The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
September 12, 2025

Belarus Frees 52 Political Prisoners to Lithuania as U.S. Eases Sanctions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The government of Belarus freed 52 political prisoners to Lithuania on
Thursday in a deal brokered by the Trump administration. Among those
released were 14 foreign nationals; journalists and bloggers; opposition
politicians; and leaders of mass protests in 2020 against Belarus's
authoritarian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Many of those released say
they were starved and tortured. In return for their release, the United
States is lifting sanctions on Belarus's national airline. The deal came
after Trump envoy Keith Kellogg traveled to Minsk, where he presented
President Lukashenko with a pair of cufflinks and a letter from Trump
that Kellogg described as a "special sign of friendship."


.