Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has freed 18 additional prisoners as he continues working to rebuild diplomatic relationships with the United States.
Thursday’s presidential decree released 18 individuals, with 15 of them previously convicted on extremism charges that Belarus commonly uses in cases with political motivations. Officials reported that 11 of those granted clemency were women.
The prisoner releases represent the most recent development in a series encouraged by President Donald Trump’s administration. Lukashenko, who has faced Western isolation following his contested 2020 reelection that sparked widespread demonstrations and harsh government responses, has been working to repair relations with Washington through these releases.
Following a phone conversation between the two presidents in August, Lukashenko has freed 123 individuals, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and notable opposition leaders Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babaryka. The United States responded by removing sanctions from Belarus’ potash fertilizer industry and national carrier Belavia.
This week’s pardons push the total beyond 140 releases. U.S. special envoy for Belarus John Coale praised the action on X Thursday, calling it “another notable step in the relationship between the U.S. and Belarus as President Trump has tasked me with getting all the political prisoners out.”
However, the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna reports that 1,140 political prisoners still remain incarcerated.
Human rights advocates continue warning that government oppression persists alongside the releases, with new arrests and convictions ongoing.
This week alone, well-known Belarusian musician and poet Aleh Khamenka received a three-year prison sentence plus substantial fines for extremist activities related to his work with a prohibited radio station. Khamenka was arrested in June following a home search and has been imprisoned for over six months.
Additionally, Belarusian officials this week classified the PEN Belarus writers’ association, which includes more than 100 members, as an extremist group.
PEN Belarus leader Tatsyana Nyadbay told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the designation was “horrendous” because it “puts the writers who remain in Belarus at risk.”
The organization’s membership includes 2015 Nobel Literature Prize recipient Svetlana Alexievich and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Bialiatski. Alexievich departed Belarus after the 2020 demonstrations, while Bialiatski served more than five years in prison on charges widely considered politically driven.
