Paris, December 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Belarusian journalist Maryna Zolatava, who was among 123 prisoners freed on Saturday as part of a deal in which the United States announced it was lifting sanctions on Belarus’s potash exports. All were pardoned by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
“We are relieved that journalist Maryna Zolatava is finally free, but she shouldn’t have spent a second in jail,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Senior Researcher Anna Brakha. “At least 24 journalists remain imprisoned in Belarus for doing nothing but their job. Authorities must immediately release them all.”
In March 2023, Belarusian authorities convicted Zolatava, editor-in-chief of the now-shuttered independent news website Tut.by, on charges of incitement to hatred and distributing materials calling for actions aimed at harming national security and sentenced her to 12 years in jail. Authorities detained Zolatava along with several other Tut.by employees and journalists in May 2021 as part of a crackdown that included raids on the outlet’s offices.
“This is news that is still hard to fully comprehend. We keep working, but our minds are still catching up with a simple and almost unbelievable fact: Maryna Zolatava is now free and can open Zerkalo, and any other media outlets, and simply read,” Zerkalo board member Aliaksandra Pushkina told CPJ. Zerkalo is an outlet founded by the former Tut.by team. “Very soon she will be able to embrace her family, and it still feels hard to believe.”
In 2024, three journalists were released after being pardoned by Lukashenko. Belarus also released 11 more journalists this year.
Editor’s note: This alert has been updated to include Pushkina’s comment.