Belarusian journalist Xenia Lutskina released after almost four years in prison

New York, August 21, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Belarusian journalist Ksenia Lutskina, who has served nearly half of an eight-year prison sentence following a presidential pardon.

Lutskina was one of 30 political prisoners involved in “protest activities” who suffered severe health problems and chronic ailments while in prison. They were pardoned by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on August 16. Lutskina's father told CPJ that the journalist was suffering from headaches caused by a growing brain tumor.

“We are relieved that journalist Ksenia Lutskina is free and getting the medical treatment she needs, but she should not have spent a second in prison,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Unless Lukashenko is too afraid of truthful reporting, he must now release all the journalists languishing behind bars for doing nothing but their jobs.”

Lutskina said the petition for a presidential pardon was “the hardest thing I have written in my life.” She added: “I will finally be able to hug my son.”

Belarusian authorities first detained Lutskina in December 2020 and accused her of “destabilizing the political, social, economic and informational situation in the country” by attempting to establish a new public television channel during mass protests against the disputed presidential election in August 2020, according to the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office.

Belarus has the third-largest prison population in the world: as of December 1, 2023, when CPJ conducted its most recent prison census, at least 28 journalists, including Lutskina, were behind bars.