Human rights activists reported that Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko had freed 13 prisoners who were convicted of political crimes, including an old trade unionist, and a former journalist for state television suffering from a tumor in the brain.

Vasil Berasnieu is a 74-year-old trade union leader. He was serving a 9-year prison sentence for extremist activities, inciting hatred, and calling to actions that were deemed detrimental to the state's security.

Kseniya Lutzkina, a former journalist, was sentenced to eight years in prison for "conspiracy" (to seize power). She was among the organizers of the mass protests in August 2020, when Lukashenko declared victory in the presidential election which the opposition and Western governments accused him of rigging heavily.

Viasna, a human rights group, said that they and at least eleven others were released under pardons Lukashenko issued on August 16. Another 18 people were released in early July.

Belarusian media has portrayed the pardons by Lukashenko as a humanitarian gesture of generosity. Some former detainees expressed remorse in interviews broadcast on state television.

Six of the six people who were freed from prison had been found guilty for insulting Lukashenko. Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus for 30 years and is an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin. He used his security system to suppress the 2020 protests, imprisoning hundreds of people and forcing many others to flee abroad.

Franak Viacorka is an aide of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana sikanouskaya. She said that many of the released prisoners had serious health problems, which were exacerbated by imprisonment. Some of them had also been close to serving their sentences.

He said: "It's a small victory of diplomacy and international pressure." "We should be happy to see the release of these seriously ill prisoner, but also remind the public about the ongoing repression of 1,400 other prisoners."

Viasna reports that the number of people prosecuted in Belarus for political crimes has increased, not decreased, and at least 170 were convicted of such crimes in July.

Some of the most well-known prisoners are Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Biliatski, 2020 leader Maria Kalesnikava, and Syarhey Tsikhanouski (husband of opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya).

Dmitry Bolkunets is an opposition activist who said that the release of prisoners was the result international pressure, especially coming from Poland. Poland is a powerful ally because it's the main point of entry for goods coming from Belarus into the European Union, by rail and road. This includes shipments that originate in China or Russia.

Bolkunets has also collected the signatures from dozens Nobel Prize winners calling for the release of Belarusian political prisoner. He said he was optimistic that this pressure would lead to further releases, perhaps on August 30, when Lukashenko will celebrate his 70th Birthday, or on September 17, when Belarus will mark its national unity day. Mark Trevelyan, Mark Heinrich and Mark Trevelyan contributed to this report.

(source: Reuters)