On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Belarus has released an American citizen who has been detained in the European country for more than 3 1/2 years. FIle Photo by Yauhen Yerchak/EPA-EFE
May 1 (UPI) — An American citizen detained in Belarus has been released, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Thanks to @POTUS, Belarus has released another wrongfully detained U.S. citizen,” Rubio said Wednesday in a statement on X. “No president has done so much, so quickly to keep Americans safe abroad.”
Rubio did not identify the released American, but officials confirmed to CNN and Axios that it was lawyer and activist Youras Ziankovich, who had been detained for more than 3 1/2 years.
Ziankovich was captured in Moscow in April 2021 by four men who were waiting for him outside his hotel room, according to the James Foley Foundation.
With a hood over his head, he was forced into a car and then driven more than 400 miles to Minsk where he was wanted for his criticism of the country’s dictatorial president, Alexander Lukashenko.
He was later convicted in a secret trial, the foundation said.
“It’s a relief to see Youras Ziankovich — an American citizen wrongfully detained in Belarus — on his way back to the U.S.” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H, and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. “I’m grateful to those who worked tirelessly to facilitate his return, including @StateDept career staff.”
“Welcome home, Youras,” she continued.
In a statement reported by Radio Free Europe, Ziankovich’s wife, Alena Dzenisavets, thanked President Donald Trump, Rubio and those who had aided in advocating for her husband’s released.
“It took 1,480 days but he survived and is on his way home to me and to America,” she said.
Ziankovich was one of thousands arrested for opposing Lukashenko following mass protests that erupted in the country after the president’s election to a sixth term a year prior in a contest that has been widely discredited.
According to the Viasna human rights center, there were 1,198 political prisoners in Belarus as of Thursday.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in a statement that she is “relieved” to see Ziankovich released, and that “we’ll keep fighting to free all 1,200 political prisoners held hostage by Lukashenka’s criminal regime.”