Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 28 political prisoners ahead of the country's Independence Day, according to the report. The amnesty marks one of the larger single clemency moves by the regime in recent years, though hundreds of political prisoners remain in custody.
Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 28 political prisoners, the state-run BelTA news agency reported Wednesday. The clemency, granted ahead of Belarus's Independence Day (July 3), is unusually large by the regime's recent standards. Human rights groups estimate that Belarus continues to detain more than 1,400 political prisoners, many arrested during the 2020 post-election protests and subsequent crackdown. The amnesty does not include prominent opposition figures such as Maria Kalesnikava or Viktar Babaryka, who remain in prison. No independent verification of the release list or its implementation was immediately available.
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