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:
Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List
4 hours ago
Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman
4 hours ago
Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say
4 hours ago
Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say
5 hours ago
5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver
5 hours ago
Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers
5 hours ago
Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs
5 hours ago
Death Toll in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Blast Rises to 70
6 hours ago
Selma Mayor Responds to Criminal Charge
7 hours ago

Fresno County Farmer Sentenced to Prison in $650,000 Crop Insurance Fraud Case

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

Wired Wednesday: What’s the Future of Fresno Unified and the Superintendent Position?

Zakaria Draws Parallels Between Trump’s Tariffs, Failed 1930s Economic Policies
