Strong reporting and storytelling on the little-told Belarus element of the headline-grabbing East-West prisoner swap

By Yuras Karmanau and Brian Friedman

Strong reporting last week by AP’s Belarus reporter Yuras Karmanau shed light on a little-told element of the historic East-West prisoner exchange — the plight of the Belarusian political prisoners. Unlike Russia, Belarus in the swap released just one person — a German national sentenced to death there, with hundreds of political prisoners still languishing in jail. Many have almost no communication with the outside world, and some are in dire need of medical assistance. Karmanau, who is based in Tallinn, Estonia, and maintains close contacts with the Belarusian civil society, interviewed relatives of some of the prisoners, human rights advocates and opposition activists and delivered a compelling story that captures their frustration about the swap. It was beautifully edited by Brian Friedman, who works closely with the Tallinn team and brings invaluable expertise on Russia, Belarus and other countries in the region to every story he is involved with. 

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