People follow a virtual speech of President Donald Trump at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP File)
Share
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
WASHINGTON — Belarus has released three people, including an American and a journalist, who had been detained for more than three years, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The name of the American and the alleged offense for which the person was held were not disclosed by the White House. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty identified one of those freed as one of its journalists, Andrey Kuznechyk, who was arrested in 2021 near his home in Minsk as authorities there launched a multipronged crackdown on the country’s independent media.
“This is a joyous day for Andrey, his wife, and their two young children. After more than three years apart, this family is together again thanks to President Trump,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President Stephen Capus said in a statement that also thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Lithuanian government.
The news organization said Kuznechyk had been charged with participating in an extremist organization and sentenced to prison but that U.S. officials and press freedom organizations have called him a political prisoner and pressed for his release.
The releases were announced one day after the White House trumpeted a prisoner swap with Russia that brought home American schoolteacher Marc Fogel of Pennsylvania after he was in custody for more than three years.
Trump had foreshadowed the additional news at the White House on Wednesday night by saying another person would be coming home on Wednesday.
“It’s a remarkable victory on the heels of Marc Foley returning to America last night,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters of the releases by Belarus.
RELATED TOPICS:
California Farm Donates Hundreds of Thousands of Eggs to Wildfire Victims, First Responders
6 hours ago
Editorials of The Times: Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out
7 hours ago
USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded
8 hours ago
Look Past Elon Musk’s Chaos. There’s Something More Sinister at Work.
8 hours ago
Kellen Moore Exits Eagles to Become Saints Head Coach
8 hours ago
The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024
9 hours ago
CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County
9 hours ago
Wired Wednesday: Fired Teacher and Coach Ed Madec Seeks Justice
4 hours ago
Categories
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12152423/JOANN-fresno-Store-Closing_1280X720-1024x576.jpg)
Fresno Location Is Among the 500 JOANN Fabrics Closures
![Rosemary Farm family representatives Jose Pelayo, left, and Lisa Stothart deliver a donation of hundreds of thousands of fresh eggs to feed first responders and those in need in the community through the donation of Rosemary Eggs at the Los Angeles Food Regional Bank in City of Industry, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP/Damian Dovarganes)](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12151423/Rosemary-Farm-family-representatives-Jose-Pelayo-left-and-Lisa-Stothart-deliver-a-donation-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of-fresh-eggs-to-feed-first-responders-and-those-in-need-in-the-community-thro-1024x576.jpg)
California Farm Donates Hundreds of Thousands of Eggs to Wildfire Victims, First Responders
![President Donald Trump signs an executive order on birthright citizenship in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/23091524/President-Donald-Trump-signs-an-executive-order-on-birthright-citizenship-in-the-Oval-Office-of-the-White-House-Monday-Jan.-20-2025-in-Washington.-APEvan-Vucci-1024x576.jpg)
Editorials of The Times: Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out
![Priya Kathpal, right, and Taylor Williamson, left, who work for a company doing contract work for the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, carry signs outside the USAID headquarters in Washington, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12134142/Priya-Kathpal-right-and-Taylor-Williamson-left-who-work-for-a-company-doing-contract-work-for-the-United-States-Agency-for-International-Development-or-USAID-carry-signs-outside-the-USAID-he-1024x576.jpg)
USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07124435/mission-thrift-Edward-Smith-1024x576.jpg)