Belarusian President Alexander On Saturday, Lukashenko pardoned 23 political prisoners who, according to local officials, were convicted of “extremism”. Belarusian media reported. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency. Human rights groups say that There are more than 1,000 political prisoners in Belarus, including the leaders of the protests that broke out after the disputed presidential election in 2020.
Lukashenko pardoned three women and 20 men on Saturday. During the past six months, more than 200 people have been released from Belarusian captivity. Belarus has not released the identities of the released prisoners, so it is unclear whether they include leading opposition figures. According to AFP, political prisoners are exposed to difficult conditions in Belarusian prisons, the authorities often deny them access to lawyers or contact with loved ones.
The latest of such mass prisoner releases came just days before the presidential election, which will take place on January 26.
Five representatives are officially running in the Belarusian presidential elections. The current president, Alexander Lukashenko, has been at the head of the country since 1994 and according to the DPA, many consider his government to be autocratic. He will run for re-election in the upcoming elections.
