Germany will offer refuge to Maria Kalesnikava and Viktar Babaryka, two prominent Belarusian opposition leaders freed at the weekend after more than five years in prison, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.

Dobrindt told broadcaster ARD that Berlin had a “great interest” in strengthening Belarus’ democracy movement in exile. “That is why we will take in two outstanding opposition politicians who were imprisoned,” he said, adding the government would act quickly to provide sanctuary.

Kalesnikava and Babaryka were among 123 political detainees released by President Alexander Lukashenko after negotiations with a US envoy led to a partial lifting of US sanctions on Belarusian exports.

Most of those freed were taken to Ukraine or Lithuania, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner

Kalesnikava, a professional musician who spent 12 years living in Germany before returning to Belarus, became a leading figure in the 2020 protests against Lukashenko’s disputed re-election. She was arrested after refusing forced expulsion, famously tearing up her passport at the border.

In 2021, she was sentenced to 11 years for conspiracy to seize power and extremist activity.

Babaryka, a former banker, was barred from running in the election and jailed for 14 years on corruption charges he denied.

Both endured harsh prison conditions and long periods of isolation.

Babaryka said his son Eduard remains among Belarus’ political prisoners. The Viasna rights group estimates there were 1,227 political prisoners before Saturday’s releases.