US welcomes Ales Bialiatski’s release

Jen Psaki, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, welcomed the release of Ales Bialiatski on Saturday, calling it “a positive development,” but reiterated the call for Belarus to immediately release all political prisoners and restore their political rights,” svaboda.org said.

“These actions would pave the way for normalization of relations between the United States and Belarus,” she said in a statement. “We stand with the people of Belarus and reaffirm our readiness to help them build a democratic, prosperous, and truly independent European state.”

In 2011,Ales Bialiatski won the Department of State’s Human Rights Defender Award for his work for the protection of victims of political repressions in Belarus and their families.