Belarus pardons 25 more prisoners under US pressure

Belarus has pardoned 25 prisoners as part of an ongoing drive to improve relations with the United States.

President Alexander Lukashenko’s office announced the decision on Tuesday, less than a week after Minsk freed dozens of prisoners following an appeal by US President Donald Trump to release hundreds said to have been prosecuted on politically motivated charges.

State news outlet BelTA reported that 12 women and 13 men were pardoned, without identifying any by name. At least some of those pardoned were political prisoners, according to the Viasna human rights group.

Rights groups say that more than 1,000 political prisoners are behind bars, detained as part of a brutal crackdown on protests over the 2020 election that saw Lukashenko returned to power for a sixth term. The president was re-elected for a seventh term this year.

Trump has been pushing for their release, reportedly lifting sanctions on the Belarusian state airline. US envoy John Coale recently said Washington wanted to reopen its embassy in Minsk, indicating a possible thaw in relations between the two countries.

Opposition figure returned to jail

Last week’s release of 52 political prisoners included a staff member with the EU’s delegation in Minsk and nine journalists and bloggers, including a reporter for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Released prisoners were bussed over the border into EU member Lithuania, where they were greeted by exiled opposition figures.

However, prominent opposition member Mikola Statkevich, who had refused deportation after his release, was returned to a penal colony, according to a report published on Monday by independent news outlet Nasha Niva.

“Statkevich has been found in the Hlybokaye prison colony,” exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya posted on X. “We urge the international community to demand his freedom”.

Nasha Niva, the independent news outlet, said the 69-year-old, who ran unsuccessfully against Lukashenko in a presidential election in 2010, had been in solitary confinement in the Hlybokaye prison for the past two years and seven months.

The exiled opposition says freed prisoners should have the right to remain in Belarus rather than be forced to leave the country.