VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Saturday freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babaryka, as part of a deal with Washington that lifted U.S. sanctions on the country’s vital fertilizer exports.

A close ally of Russia, Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. Belarus has been repeatedly sanctioned by the West for its rampant crackdown on dissent and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine. Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024 in what is seen as an effort by Lukashenko to win a reprieve from the bruising restrictions.

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