On 1 August 2024, 16 brave victims* of Putin and Lukashenko regimes have been liberated.
We, in ALDE-PACE, are particularly relieved to see our long-standing partners Vladimir Kara-Murza, Oleg Orlov and Ilya Yashin out of the prison cells where they were confined for daring to speak the truth about Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
The ordeal is finally over for 16 political prisoners, but many more remain behind bars in Russia and Belarus for standing up against the dictatorship and defending freedom of speech and political pluralism.
Today, we also think about the families of the released hostages and salute their courage in the relentless fight for their liberation.
* Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Rico Krieger, Alsu Kurmasheva, Kevin Lik, German Moyzhes, Oleg Orlov, Vadim Ostanin, Andrey Pivovarov, Patrick Schöbel, Sasha Skochilenko, Demuri Voronin, Paul Whelan, and Ilya Yashin were released.
