Spain celebrates great news of release of Belarusian opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky and thirteen other political prisoners

Spain celebrates the great news of the release of Belarusian opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky and thirteen other political prisoners, and thanks the United States for its diplomatic involvement in achieving this result.

This release must be followed by the same outcome for the more than 1,000 Belarusian opposition figures who remain in the country's prisons for the simple act of trying to exercise their fundamental freedoms. Both they and their families deserve the full solidarity of the Government and people of Spain.

Spain remains firmly committed to democracy and human rights in Belarus, as the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation conveyed to the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, during her visit to Madrid yesterday.