After more than 600 days of rejected visits, calls and correspondence, jailed Belarusian opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova has been allowed to see her father in prison.

In a photo posted on social media, the activist can be seen hugging her father in what looks like a prison robe.

It’s the smile on his face that made him famous as one of the leaders of the huge wave of protests in 2020 that brought Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime under unprecedented pressure.

He survived by responding with mass arrests, police beatings, and torture; all of this was documented in detail, but still flatly denied by the authorities.

Maria Kolesnikova, a peaceful protester, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of extremism and alleged conspiracy to overthrow the government.

In September, her sister Tatsiana told the BBC that she was worried the Belarusian regime was “slowly killing” Maria in prison, where she has been held in punitive conditions since March 2023 and is not allowed any contact with relatives or lawyers.

Tatsiana later called for greater international pressure to release her sister and the release of many other political prisoners in Belarus.

Now he’s sharing his new prison photo with “I can’t believe it!” He published it on X with his words.

The family has not yet shared any information about his health condition.

Strangely, the photo was first published on Telegram by former dissident journalist Roman Protasevich. Ryanair flight over Belarus was forcibly stopped. Following a presidential pardon and early release, he is now cooperating with authorities.

Mr. Protasevich did not provide a photo of Maria and her father or any details about the circumstances.

Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since the early 1990s, has called for a presidential election in January in which no genuine opposition candidates will be allowed to participate.

He has recently begun pardoning small groups of prisoners, perhaps hoping to improve his image.

More than 70 people have been released since the summer, including those jailed for participating in the 2020 protests, but most were near the end of their sentences or were ill.

Another group imprisoned for “extremism” will be pardoned, an announcement made last week said. He promised “big news” and said two women were on the list.

But Tatsiana told the BBC she did not believe her sister’s sudden appearance for a prison visit meant she would be released.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, He is now in exile after running for election Against Lukashenko, he sent a short video on Telegram with greetings for “Masha”, calling Maria affectionately and expressing “joy” to see her reunited with her father.

“How happy I am to see the smile that fascinated us in 2020 and that remains the same despite everything you have been through,” Tikhanovskaya said.

Writing about X, he added: “Now, we must keep up the pressure to break the isolation on other political prisoners and release them all!”

Tikhanovskaya’s husband, Sergei, is one of those still in prison and has also been held incommunicado for months, like other political prisoners, including Viktor Babaryko, another potential presidential candidate to be jailed in 2020.

Franak Viacorka, one of Tikhanovskaya’s advisors, told the BBC that Lukashenko’s gesture to Maria was for show.

“Lukashenko is now afraid of making big moves and changes before his own fake election, that is, his reappointment. Showing Maria does not threaten him, but he wants to portray it as a great gesture of humanity – which, of course, is not what Mr. Viacorka believes.

He attributed the move to a recent increase in international attention and pressure.

Lukashenko, whose 2020 election results were condemned by the European Union as “fake”, has been an international pariah for many years.

Regarding others still detained, Mr. Viacorka said: “I dream of the moment when my friends and colleagues will be released. But I am a realist.”