Belarusian dissident Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has said she will continue to fight for democracy and human rights as leader of the opposition after her husband’s release from prison.
“He is alive and we are together again and remain committed to our fight,” she said at a press conference with her husband in Vilnius on Sunday.
Sergei Tikhanovsky was released on Saturday along with 13 other political prisoners after a visit by US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg to Minsk.
Tikhanovskaya thanked the US for its efforts to secure the release of the prisoners.
Tikhanovsky described spending five years in solitary confinement. The blogger and politician called on the US to work for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus.
“[President Donald] Trump has such power and such possibilities, that with one word he could free all political prisoners. I ask him to say that word now,” he said.
He stressed that Tikhanovskaya remains the leader of the opposition.
Tikhanovsky had originally planned to run against incumbent Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, but was detained during the campaign and sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges including organizing mass unrest.
Tikhanovskaya ran in his place and is considered by many to be the true winner of the 2020 election, which was widely regarded as rigged.
When Lukashenko declared himself victorious, mass protests broke out, which were brutally suppressed by security forces with help from Russia.