Former RFE/RL Journalist Released from Detention in Belarus
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) welcomes the release and is grateful to the U.S. and Lithuanian governments for their support.
(VILNIUS, LITHUANIA ) — Former RFE/RL journalist Ihar Karnei has been freed from unjust detention in Belarus.
RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said:
“We are deeply grateful to President Trump for securing the release of this brave journalist, who suffered at the hands of the Belarusian authorities. We thank Secretary Rubio and his team, the Lithuanian government, and the international community for their support of our imprisoned journalists.”
Ihar Karnei is a veteran journalist who worked with RFE/RL for over 20 years. He was detained in Minsk in July 2023 and sentenced, in March 2024, to three years in prison for taking part in an “extremist” group because of his association with the Belarusian Association of Journalists. In December 2024, his sentence was extended by eight months. The Belarusian human rights community recognized Karnei as a political prisoner.
Today’s release comes after RFE/RL journalist Andrei Kuznechyk was freed from a Belarusian prison in February. RFE/RL journalist Ihar Losik remains unjustly imprisoned in Belarus and will mark five years behind bars on June 25.
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach a weekly audience of more than 47 million people in 23 countries.