Belarusian leader pardons 30 more political prisoners

Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, has signed a decree pardoning 30 political prisoners convicted of what the Belarusian authorities say are "protest-related crimes".

Source: a decree from Lukashenko, published on 4 September

Details: Seven women and 23 men have been pardoned, most of them parents of minors and young children.

The decree states that they have fulfilled the mandatory conditions for being pardoned: they applied for pardon, admitted their guilt, expressed sincere repentance, and have pledged to live in accordance with the law.

Background:

• In late July, Lukashenko pardoned Rico Krieger, a German citizen who had been sentenced to death for supposedly working for the "Ukrainian special services". Krieger was among the political prisoners swapped between Western countries and Russia on 1 August.
• On 16 August, Lukashenko signed a decree pardoning 30 other people convicted of "protest-related crimes". 14 women and 16 men were released, including people of retirement age and some who were seriously ill.

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