According to human rights activists, there are currently around 1,400 people in prison for expressing their opinions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
Autocratic leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed Monday’s decree granting amnesty to 37 political prisoners.
The Belarusian state news agency reported on the matter news agency Belta and Reuters news agency.
According to Belta, all those pardoned had previously received a sentence for crimes related to so-called “extremism”.
Belta says that six of those pardoned were women. Among those pardoned were also pensioners, people with intellectual disabilities and people suffering from illnesses.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus autocratically since 1994, has granted amnesty to dozens of political prisoners this year. Political prisoners were last amnestied at the beginning of September and before this in August.
Despite the amnesties, the situation of political prisoners in Belarus is difficult. According to human rights activists, there are currently around 1,400 people imprisoned for expressing their feelings against the Lukashenko regime.