EPA-EFE/MIKHAIL METZEL / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 30 prisoners “convicted of crimes connected to protest” on Friday, state news agency BELTA reported.
While no names have been provided so far by the presidential press service, the list is known to include 14 women and 16 men, some of whom are suffering from “serious diseases”, the agency wrote, adding that all prisoners had “admitted guilt”, “repented” and “undertaken to lead a law-abiding life”.
Franak Viachorka, chief political advisor to exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya, told independent media outlet IStories that the 30 pardons signed by Lukashenko included people who had already been released in July and August. Viachorka added that Belarusian human rights defenders had previously compiled a list of Belarusian political prisoners who it said needed to be released on health grounds, but did not name them for safety reasons.
Lukashenko’s pardon was “a chance for these individuals to rehabilitate themselves before society and the state”, the agency added.
In early July, Lukashenko pardoned at least 18 political prisoners, including Ryhor Kastusiou, a Belarusian opposition figure suffering from cancer, and in early August, Belarus released a German citizen sentenced to death as part of a large-scale prisoner swap between Russia and the West.
The Belarusian regime is known for jailing its critics, a trend that became all the more pronounced following protests against the stolen 2020 presidential election. Belarusian human rights organisation Viasna estimates that Belarus has at least 1,378 political prisoners, while thousands more have fled the country to avoid prosecution.
The fate of many political prisoners jailed in Belarus is unknown, as they continue to be denied access to lawyers or contact with their families. In many cases, their relatives do not even know if they are dead or alive.
