WARSAW, Poland (AFP) —Belarusian exile Asya watched from the sidelines in central Warsaw as a crowd greeted and applauded Sergei Tikhanovsky, the Belarus opposition figure who was unexpectedly released, barely recognizable after five years in prison.

A popular blogger, Tikhanovsky, 46, was jailed in 2020, weeks before he was due to stand in presidential elections against Belarus’s long-time leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

His arrest was the opening salvo in a sweeping crackdown that escalated after Lukashenko claimed victory over Svetlana Tikhanovskaya — Tikhanovsky’s wife, who ran in his place — in a ballot widely decried by critics and rights groups as rigged.

Asya was among several hundred fellow Belarusians, living in exile in neighboring Poland, celebrating his surprise release under pressure from the United States.

But her mind was with others still incarcerated.

“I am happy for those who are freed, but with each release I always look for the names of my friends,” she said.

There are 1,169 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the Viasna rights group.

The sight of Tikhanovsky — who lost almost half his weight and appeared to have drastically aged behind bars — has given even more urgency to securing their release, Asya said.

“Honestly, regime change is needed. But for me, the priority is for people to be freed and for them to be safe,” she said.

Having been held incommunicado since March 2023, many had long feared for how Tikhanovsky was being treated.

Tikhanovsky has broken down in tears several times when talking about his ordeal in prison, describing alleged torture and being held in solitary confinement.

Prison officials had attempted to “fatten him up” in the months before his release by giving him “meat, fats, butter,” he told a rally in Warsaw.

He believes there will be more releases.