Belarus releases the American woman from detention because the leader of the strong man seems to expand the 30 -year rule – Wkmg News 6 & Clickorlando

Belarus “unilaterally” released an American woman from detention, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Sunday as a country adjacent to the Kremlin conducted an orchestrated election ready to give to the President of the strong man Alexander Lukashenko on the top of his three decades of power.

Rubio’s publication on the social network X designated the American citizen as Anastassia Nuhfer. It says she was detained during the term of former President Joe Biden, but did not specify when or why.

Rubio’s statement appeared after waves of liberation from prisoners from Lukashenko, often called the “last dictator in Europe”. The oldest Belarus rights group, Viasna, says over 1250 people remain in detention because of their opposition to the authorities.

Lukashenko’s opponents, many of whom are imprisoned or exile abroad by his relentless repression of disagreement and freedom of expression, called Sunday on Sunday with a fake Sunday. The last 2020 elections have caused months of mass protests, unprecedented in Belarusian history.

The US Department of State said later on Sunday that Nuhfer was detained in early December 2024. It says that earlier this month, a consular officer from Washington received rare access to US detainee in Belarus.

A former high -ranking Belarusian diplomat told the AP that Nuhfer’s arrest was linked to protests in 2020, although it did not give details. The source, which speaks of anonymity due to security concerns, said that Lukashenko himself had proposed to release the US citizen “as a gesture of goodwill”, while refusing to release any Belarusian opposition and activists rights.

The release of Nuhfer surprised the audience and even the Belarusian activists. Her name was not published publicly and was not presented in lists of political prisoners.

Pavel Sapelka of the Viana Rights Group said he and his colleagues were not aware of her arrest or her circumstances.

Lukashenko’s support for the war in Ukraine led to a break in Belarus’ ties with the US and the EU, putting an end to his games to use the West to try to win more subsidies from the Kremlin.

But Artom Schreibman, a Belarus expert from the Carnegie Center Russia and Eurasia, predicts that Minsk can try to relieve his overall dependence on Russia after the election, seeking to reach the West again.

“Lukashenko’s temporary goal is to use the election to confirm his legitimacy and to try to overcome his isolation in order to start at least a conversation with the West to relieve sanctions,” Schreibman said.

It was not clear what, if any, the discounts that Minsk asked for in exchange for the release of a US citizen.