On April 28th, I reported on four journalists working for RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty (RFE/RL), who were being held as political hostages in prisons in Russia, Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea.

One of the four — Alsu Kurmasheva — happily was freed in the prisoner exchange of August 1st. But the other three remain prisoners of the corrupt Russian and Belarusian regimes. They are:

They are just three of some 150 Belarusian prisoners being held — on various specious charges — as part of Moscow’s continuing roundup of journalists and other political dissidents.

Andrey Kuznechyk recently “celebrated” his third anniversary in prison. He was initially arrested on November 25, 2021, on a charge of hooliganism . . . a favorite excuse of Russian and Belarusian authorities seeking to hold a target while manufacturing other, more serious charges. He denied the accusation, but served the ten days, expecting to be released thereafter. But he was instead charged further with “creating an extremist group,” tried, found guilty, and sentenced on June 8, 2022, to six years in prison. [RFE/RL, November 25, 2024.]

Ihar Losik, a blogger and contributor to RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, was convicted — also three years ago — in December 2021, on multiple charges including the “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order” — whatever that’s supposed to mean. His sentence was 15 years in prison. [Id.]

And Vladyslav Yesypenko is a dual Ukrainian-Russian citizen who contributed to RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service. He was convicted of “possession and transport of explosives” — a charge he categorically denied — and sentenced to six years in prison by a Russian judge in occupied Crimea following a closed-door trial. [Id.]

*. *. *

And while the Russian hierarchy continues its paranoid purge of alleged dissidents, the American and other hostages remaining in prison on specious political charges continue to await their turn to be released. Now numbering sixteen, they are:

David Barnes
Staff Sergeant Gordon Black
Marc Fogel
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Ksenia Karelina
Andrey Kuznechyk (in Belarus)
Michael Travis Leake
Ihar Losik (in Belarus)
Daniel Martindale
Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan)
Robert Shonov
Eugene Spector
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland
Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea)

We must ensure that the new administration being inaugurated in Washington in January continues, without interruption, the work that has been underway up to this time. These hostages, and all the others whose names have not yet made it onto the list, must be brought home.

No excuses.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/8/24