After pardons in Belarus: Lukashenka must release all political prisoners
LIBERECO welcomes the release of 14 political prisoners in Belarus. At the same time, the Swiss NGO points out that well over 1,000 people are still being arbitrarily detained in Belarus for political reasons – including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.
According to the LIBERECO partner organisation Viasna, 14 political prisoners were pardoned and taken to Lithuania on Saturday, 21 June. The releases took place immediately after US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg visited Minsk. Among those pardoned is Sergei Tikhanovsky, former presidential candidate and husband of Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
“We are very pleased about the release of the 14 political prisoners, whose years of suffering under inhumane prison conditions have thus come to an end. The pardons by dictator Lukashenka also show that he alone is responsible for who remains imprisoned in Belarusian prisons and for how long. The arbitrary imprisonment of dissidents in Belarus must end. Lukashenka must finally release all of the well over 1,000 political prisoners,” demands Lars Bünger, President of LIBERECO Switzerland.
LIBERECO calls for all conceivable negotiation approaches and diplomatic initiatives to be utilised in order to secure the release of all political prisoners in Belarus. This is because political prisoners are in mortal danger due to detention conditions characterised by torture and ill-treatment. At least eight people have died in prison since 2020. The most recent death was that of 61-year-old businessman Valiantsin Shtermer at the end of May.
In prison, prominent political prisoners such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski are held incommunicado, while others are denied legal and medical assistance. Some prisoners, such as Wiktar Babaryka, Mikalaj Statkewitsch and Maria Kalesnikawa, have not been heard from for months.
Since 2020, LIBERECO has been providing medical and psycho-social assistance to politically persecuted people from Belarus. Based on its support for hundreds of ex-prisoners, LIBERECO has recorded that the health of released political prisoners is deteriorating due to long periods of detention and inhumane conditions: damp and cold cells, malnutrition, lack of exercise and little or no direct sunlight. Many prisoners are also subjected to ill-treatment and torture.