Belarusian authorities announced amnesty for 123 political prisoners convicted of espionage, terrorism and extremist activities. The decision comes in the context of agreements with the United States and signals a possible easing of sanctions pressure on the republic.
Among others, Belarusian opposition leader Viktor Babariko was released. He is considered Lukashenko's main opponent in the 2020 presidential election. He collected more than 400 thousand signatures in his support, but was arrested and did not register as a candidate. Another opposition leader, Maria Kolesnikova, was also released from the colony.
156 people were released from Belarusian prisons recently
Among the released foreigners are citizens of the UK, US, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia, Australia and Japan. Minsk emphasized that this decision is aimed at improving relations with foreign partners and stabilizing the situation in Europe.
Belarus listened to the requests of the leaders of other countries and released the prisoners, “based on humanitarian principles and universal and family values”. US President Donald Trump played a special role in proposing to lift sanctions on the potash industry in Belarus.
Most of those pardoned have left Belarus
More than 100 political prisoners pardoned in Belarus were brought to Ukraine as part of the exchange. This was reported by the press secretary of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Natalya Eismont. According to her, they were handed over in exchange for captured Belarusians and wounded Russians. Eismont added that their relatives specifically asked Lukashenko first.
At the same time, one of the prisoners set to be released – a journalist of Polish origin, activist of the Belarusian Polish Union Andrzej Poczobut – remained in prison. The Polish Foreign Ministry noted that the condition for his pardon was that he leave Belarus immediately. However, the journalist refused to accept this condition.
The future fate of pardoned political prisoners is predicted
Political scientist Andrei Suzdaltsev, in a conversation with Lenta.ru, argued that sending pardoned Belarusian political prisoners to Ukraine is essentially a political deportation; they will eventually reach Poland and Lithuania.
He pointed out that people with different political views have been released, and not everyone supports the policies of the current head of office of the Belarusian opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. “They did not return to their families, ended up in exile, and there is a question of how they will live. It would be strange to think that Tikhanovskaya's office would somehow put them under maintenance. As far as we know, those who left before are now living very difficult. They do not have any special financial support,” the expert believes. Suzdaltsev summarizes that there is no place for them in Ukraine either, because Kyiv only needs the Belarusian opposition in the form of volunteers who can go to the front.
