Independent Belarusian media, including Zierkalo, Nasha Niva and Belsat, reported the news, citing information from his relatives.
Milinkevich’s family had previously said he was struggling with serious health issues. Zierkalo recalled that he underwent major surgery in November.
Milinkevich was one of the most recognizable figures in the Belarusian democratic movement. In 2006, he ran as the joint candidate of the opposition in the presidential election, challenging Alexander Lukashenko. After the vote, which the opposition considered rigged, he joined protests in Minsk that were violently dispersed by security forces. According to Zierkalo, he had lived in exile since 2020.
From 2007 to 2016, Milinkevich led the opposition movement For Freedom, which promoted democratization and civil society in Belarus. After the wave of repression following the 2020 presidential election, he left the country. In exile, he remained active in the Belarusian opposition. He served as a social adviser to opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and helped initiate the creation of the Belarusian Free University in Poland. He was also an honorary member of the Union of Poles in Belarus.
Milinkevich received numerous awards, including the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and the Ivanovich Tsikhanouskaya Prize. He was honored with the Casimir Pulaski “Knight of Freedom” Award for his work in support of democracy and human rights, and the Sergio Vieira de Mello Award for efforts to promote peace.
He was a physicist by training.
“A symbolic man who devoted his entire life to democracy in Belarus, building a better Europe and fostering friendly Polish‑Belarusian relations has passed away,” Polish Senate Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa‑Błońska said on Tuesday.
“I received with sadness the news of the death of Alexander Milinkevich, an independent candidate for the presidency of Belarus in 2006 and winner of the European Parliament’s Andrei Sakharov Prize. A symbolic man who devoted his entire life to democracy in Belarus, building a better Europe and friendly Polish‑Belarusian relations, has passed away,” she wrote.
She also expressed condolences to Milinkevich’s wife and children.
(pu)
Source: (PAP)