Belarus releases US citizen who was jailed for years

TALLINN – Belarus connected Wednesday released a U.S. national who had been jailed connected allegations of plotting to assassinate the country's authoritarian leader, charges his supporters and the U.S. authorities called bogus.

Youras Ziankovich, a lawyer who has dual Belarusian and U.S. citizenship, was convicted connected a fig of charges, including plotting a coup against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, and fixed an 11-year condemnation successful September 2022. He past had six months added to his condemnation aboriginal that year.

In August 2024, a tribunal successful Belarus handed Ziankovich an further two-year condemnation connected charges of “malicious disobedience to the situation administration,” bringing his wide situation word to 13 1/2 years.

The U.S. authorities connected Wednesday identified the antheral arsenic Youras Ziankovich but his sanction has besides been rendered arsenic Yuras Zyankovich successful antithetic quality accounts.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who designated Ziankovich arsenic wrongfully detained successful February, announced his merchandise connected Wednesday and said helium would instrumentality to the United States soon. Rubio acknowledged “Lukashenko’s humanitarian gesture” and acknowledgment the Lithuanians, calling them “incredible allies” who person been “supportive of our efforts these past fewer months to bring Americans home.”

Ziankovich was arrested successful Russia successful April 2021 unneurotic with Alexander Feduta, who served arsenic a spokesperson for Lukashenko erstwhile helium was archetypal elected successful 1994. Feduta aboriginal joined the opposition.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, the country’s main information bureau besides known arsenic the FSB, said astatine the clip without offering immoderate grounds that Ziankovich and Feduta came to Moscow to conscionable with opposition-minded Belarusian generals and were plotting a subject coup.

In 2020, Belarus was rocked by its largest-ever protests pursuing an predetermination that gave Lukashenko a sixth word successful bureau but was condemned by the absorption and the West arsenic fraudulent. In effect to the demonstrations, Lukashenko unleashed a harsh crackdown connected dissent. According to Viasna, Belarus’ apical quality rights group, 65,000 radical person been arrested since the protests began and hundreds of thousands person fled Belarus.

Pavel Sapelka, a rights advocator with Viasna, told The Associated Press connected Wednesday that Ziankovich has been “under changeless and harsh unit from the authorities” down bars and mislaid a batch of value successful harsh situation conditions.

Since past year, Lukashenko pardoned astir 250 governmental prisoners. He besides released 1 American from custody this past February.

Some 1,200 governmental prisoners stay down bars successful Belarus, according to Viasna.

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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker successful Washington contributed to this report.

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