Belarus’ authoritarian leader pardons 30 out of some 1,400 political prisoners

Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 30 prisoners convicted for taking part in protests. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile, has welcomed the move but vowed to keep fighting until each of nearly 1,400 political prisoners in the country is set free. Lukashenko’s office said Friday that he has pardoned 14 women and 16 men, including some elderly people and those who had grave illnesses. It didn’t give their names. The 2020 presidential election, widely seen as a sham both at home and abroad, gave Lukashenko his sixth term in office and touched off the biggest protests and crackdown on dissent in Belarus in its post-Soviet history.