Veteran dissident who refused exile released

Belarus has released jailed veteran opposition politician Mikola Statkevich, who refused to go into exile last year in a US-brokered prisoner release.

The 69-year-old was now at home and recovering from a stroke which had affected his speech, his wife Marina Adamovich said.

Statkevich spent more than five years behind bars after receiving a 14-year sentence for organising what the authorities called "mass riots" in 2020-21. He had run unsuccessfully against Alexander Lukashenko in a 2010 presidential poll.

More than 1,000 political prisoners remain in jail in Belarus, rights groups say.

"He is at home, recovering," Adamovich said on Thursday.

"I really hope that everything will be fine. The main problem at the moment is his speech. It's bad, it's difficult to have a conversation."

Meanwhile, exiled Belarusian leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she was relieved that Statkevich "is free and able to hug his wife, who waited for him for so long".

"I want to thank everyone who keeps fighting to release all political prisoners in Belarus. We must continue until every last one is free," she added in a post on X.

They were jailed in 2020-21, when Lukashenko brutally stamped out protests after claiming victory in presidential elections that were widely condemned as rigged.

Most agreed to be sent abroad into exile. Statkevich was the only one who refused to leave the country.

In exchange for the prisoner release, the US pledged to relieve some sanctions on Belarusian airline Belavia, allowing it to buy parts for its aircraft.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus since 1994, quashing all opposition.