Four years after the suppression of mass protests, Belarusian President Lukashenko has pardoned 30 opposition members. His office called it a “humane gesture”. However, more than 1,300 others are still in prison.
They were the largest mass demonstrations since the proclamation of the Republic of Belarus in 1991: after the presidential election four years ago, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the result. President Alexander Lukashenko had claimed victory. The opposition and Western governments accused him of having rigged the election. The protests were violently suppressed.
Release as a “humane gesture”
Now Lukashenko has pardoned 30 opposition members who were convicted for the protests. Lukashenko's office announced that seven women and 23 men had their sentences pardoned. The step was a “humane gesture towards these people”.
The pardoned prisoners “submitted an application for pardon, admitted their guilt, sincerely repented and promised to lead a law-abiding life,” the President's Office said. Most of them are parents of underage children.
Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994, had already pardoned 30 prisoners in mid-August who, according to official information, suffered from “serious illnesses” or old age and who had also been convicted for participating in demonstrations.
More than 1,300 political prisoners
According to the human rights organization Vyazna, 20 more people were released in July after serving their prison sentences and 18 others were “pardoned or exchanged.”
Nevertheless, there are still more than 1,300 political prisoners in the country of ten million inhabitants; thousands more people have left the country.
