Belarus releases 3 people, including an American and a jailed journalist

WASHINGTON — Belarus has released three people, including an American and a journalist, who had been detained for more than three years, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The name of the American and the alleged offense for which the person was held were not disclosed by the White House. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty identified one of those freed as one of its journalists, Andrey Kuznechyk, who was arrested in 2021 near his home in Minsk as authorities there launched a multipronged crackdown on the country's independent media.

''This is a joyous day for Andrey, his wife, and their two young children. After more than three years apart, this family is together again thanks to President Trump," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President Stephen Capus said in a statement that also thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Lithuanian government.

The news organization said Kuznechyk had been charged with participating in an extremist organization and sentenced to prison but that U.S. officials and press freedom organizations have called him a political prisoner and pressed for his release.

The releases were announced one day after the White House trumpeted a prisoner swap with Russia that brought home American schoolteacher Marc Fogel of Pennsylvania after he was in custody for more than three years.

Trump had foreshadowed the additional news at the White House on Wednesday night by saying another person would be coming home on Wednesday.

''It's a remarkable victory on the heels of Marc Foley returning to America last night,'' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters of the releases by Belarus.

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