Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the exiled Belarus opposition chief, spoke to FRANCE 24 in regards to the launch from jail of fellow protest chief Maria Kolesnikova and Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski together with 121 different political prisoners. “Let’s not overlook that a minimum of 1,200 political prisoners are nonetheless behind bars, persons are nonetheless being arrested on daily basis, households are nonetheless being terrorised and repression hasn’t stopped. So, there’s nonetheless lots of work forward of us,” stated the previous presidential candidate who stood in opposition to Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Requested about US strikes to raise sanctions on Minsk in return for the prisoners’ launch, Tikhanovskaya thanked the Trump administration for its function in brokering the deal, whereas calling for additional stress on the Belarus authorities. She added: “Lukashenko launched these individuals not as a result of he grew to become humane, however as a result of he feels the stress and he desires sanctions lifted.”[/gpt3]
