The 52 political prisoners freed in Belarus on Thursday knew they were going to be released and were “very happy” to return to their lives, John Coale, President Donald Trump’s deputy envoy to Ukraine, tells Newsmax.
“Yes, this group did know,” Coale said in a phone interview with Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren, his wife, on her program, “The Record With Greta Van Susteren.” “This group was told the night before, so they knew.”
Another 14 prisoners, including Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, were released in June following Coale’s discussions in Minsk with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
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