“Another 20 political prisoners were pardoned in Belarus. This is another wave of layoffs agreed with the United States.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
illustrative photo: getty Images Source: “Pul Pervogo” Telegram channel, which is actually the press service of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Oleksandr Lukashenka, reports “Evropeyska Pravda”
Details: It is noted that, before the New Year, Lukashenko signed a decree on pardoning 22 people, 20 of whom were convicted under “extremist” articles.
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Lukashenka said that “all of them appealed to the head of state with petitions for pardon, admitted their guilt and repented of what they had done.”
What happened before:
- On December 13, after negotiations with the US special representative, Lukashenka announced the release of only 123 political prisoners and noted that this happened “as part of the agreements with the US president and at his request” in connection with the lifting of US sanctions.
- 114 released were handed over to Ukraine, among them Viktor Babariko and his associate Maria Kolesnikova, who were not allowed to run for the presidential elections, as well as five citizens of Ukraine. Nine people, including Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatskyi and two Lithuanians, were taken to Lithuania.
- The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that Ukraine was asked to accept the released people because Belarus did not want to release them in other ways.
Read more about this topic: Lukashenka and Trump’s “big deal”: behind the release of key political prisoners in Belarus