unsaveSave
expand-left
full screenBelarus leader Aleksandr Lukashenko at the UN climate meeting in Baku. Photo: Peter Dejong/AP/TT
Belarus dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko pardoned 32 political prisoners on Wednesday, ahead of upcoming elections.
Over 1,200 people are still imprisoned for criticizing the regime, and countless others are harassed or persecuted for their views.
Seventeen of the prisoners released Wednesday have chronic illnesses, and nine of those pardoned were over 50 years old.
Opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who has been forced into exile since she deemed herself victorious in the 2020 presidential election, welcomed the announcement with a bitter aftertaste:
“My heart is filled with joy that another 32 political prisoners have been released. But we have to state the harsh reality: repression continues and the number of political prisoners is increasing,” she writes on X.
Her husband, who first ran for president in opposition to Lukashenko but was banned from running and imprisoned, is one of those still in prison.
The human rights organization Viasna claims to be able to house 1,262 political prisoners, but the actual number is believed to be higher.