Belarus keeps up crackdown on dissent even as authorities free some prisoners, rights group says

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarusian authorities are intensifying their crackdown on dissent despite releasing a few prisoners, according to the country’s primary rights organization, Viasna, as reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

While 14 prisoners were granted amnesty and set free by the Belarusian government last month, at least 60 more individuals have been arrested on politically motivated charges, stated Pavel Sapelka, a rights advocate at Viasna. The human rights center documented over 100 politically motivated arrests in May alone, Sapelka added.

Sapelka emphasized, “The wave of repressions continues unabated, with authorities in Belarus suppressing any form of dissent and initiating new high-profile cases. No one, absolutely no one, is immune to persecution in Belarus.”

Since 2020, mass arrests and convictions of government critics in Belarus have persisted following President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed sixth term victory in an election denounced as fraudulent by the opposition and Western nations.

The ensuing protests saw tens of thousands of Belarusians rallying against the regime, triggering the largest demonstrations in the country’s history. In response, authorities unleashed a brutal crackdown, leading to the detention and assault of thousands, forcing many into exile. The international community condemned the crackdown, prompting the U.S. and EU to impose sanctions on Belarus.

Viasna has identified 1,174 individuals as political prisoners, including 38 journalists and Ales Bialiatski, the group’s founder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2022. Tragically, at least eight political prisoners have died while in custody.

Despite securing another term in office in a controversial election earlier this year, Lukashenko has started pardoning political prisoners, with more than 300 individuals released since July 2024, including U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.

In a recent development, Belarusian authorities released prominent opposition figure Siarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 others, sending them to Lithuania shortly after Lukashenko met with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in Minsk.

Nonetheless, human rights advocates argue that the situation in Belarus remains dire, as evidenced by the opening of new high-profile cases by the authorities, signaling a continuation of the crackdown.

Viasna reported the arrest of at least 20 individuals associated with Belaruski Hajun, a group monitoring military activities in Belarus. Additionally, popular Belarusian singer Aleh Hamenka and sociologists from the Wardomacki sociological research laboratory have also been detained on anti-government protest charges.

Nils Muižnieks, the U.N.’s special rapporteur for human rights in Belarus, recently stated, “There is no indication of improvement in the human rights situation in Belarus, with the authorities rejecting offers for collaboration.”