Belarus releases 10 political prisoners, but 1,400 still detained

• Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has released at least 10 political prisoners, including a veteran opposition figure with cancer.
• Human rights group Viasna reports that three women and seven men have been released.
• Activists express mixed emotions about the releases, with some expressing joy and anger.

Rights campaigners said on Thursday that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has freed at least 10 political prisoners, including a veteran opposition figure suffering from cancer. However, despite the rare pardon, some 1,400 people remain behind bars for political activity, with most of them arrested after peaceful mass protests in 2020 and convicted on various charges related to alleged extremism.

According to the human rights group Viasna, three women and seven men have been released. One of those identified by relatives is Ryhor Kastusiou, 67, a former opposition party leader and presidential candidate. He was arrested in 2021 and sentenced the following year to 10 years in a penal colony for plotting against the government to seize power. Kastusiou was diagnosed with cancer after his arrest.

Activists expressed that their happiness at the releases was bitter-sweet.

“This is a very great joy, of course, almost childlike. But it is joy through tears — there is anger too for what people have to go through,” said Inna Kovalenok, a representative of a relatives’ group that campaigns for the release of prisoners.

Andrei Stryzhak, head of an organization called Bysol that raises funds to support political prisoners and their families, stated that believing the authorities had become more humane was a delusion.

“To believe that something has suddenly changed in the minds of those who torture, rape, and kill for the sake of maintaining power is a dangerous fantasy bordering on treason and crime,” he posted on Telegram.

This week, Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced an amnesty to commemorate Belarus’s liberation from the Nazis in World War Two, marking its 80th anniversary. According to state news agency Belta, the amnesty is expected to cover approximately 7,850 prisoners, including minors, pregnant women, pensioners, and individuals suffering from tuberculosis or cancer.

Excluding those convicted of crimes against the state or extremist and terrorist activities, Lukashenko indicated there would be exceptions for seriously ill individuals. In power since 1994, Lukashenko orchestrated a violent crackdown in 2020 to quell mass protests that erupted following an election widely criticized by the opposition and Western governments for heavy rigging.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against him in that election and now leads the opposition in exile, welcomed the release of some prisoners but noted that many others remain detained.

“Political trials & arrests continue without a break in #Belarus,” Tsikhanouskaya posted on X. “Repression doesn’t stop for a day & we won’t stop our fight for freedom.”

Tsikhanouskaya’s husband, Syarhei, is among the most well-known prisoners, along with Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and protest leader Maria Kolesnikova. In September 2020, Kolesnikova tore up her passport to prevent security services from expelling her from the country by forcing her to cross into Ukraine.

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