Belarus has brutally suppressed dissent under President Alexander Lukashenko, a Kremlin ally who has ruled the country since 1994.
On Wednesday, the president released several political prisoners in a rare amnesty, but human rights watchdog Viasna estimates that around 1,400 people remain incarcerated.
Brutal repression has forced hundreds of thousands of Belarusians into exile.
Below are some of the most notorious political prisoners still in custody.
Sergei Tikhanovsky, a blogger with a popular YouTube channel, tried to run against Lukashenko in the 2020 elections.
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He was arrested and paid a heavy price for criticizing President Lukashenko, calling him a “cockroach.”
Tikhanovsky is now married to opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who ran in his place after his arrest and claims to have won an election that Western countries claim was rigged.
Tikhanovsky was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for “organising riots” and “inciting hatred”, plus an additional 18 months for “insubordination”.
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Tikhanovskaya, who lives in Lithuania, said she last heard from him in March 2023.
Maria Kolesnikova, a former professional musician, was one of the leaders of the mass protests against President Lukashenko’s re-election in 2020.
She was jailed after resisting attempts by authorities to deport her after the election.
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She was later sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2021 on charges including “conspiracy” against the government.
Her health deteriorated in prison and she was hospitalised in November 2022 with a “perforated ulcer”.
Ales Bialyacki, a leading Belarusian human rights activist and co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year for “foreign currency smuggling.”
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The 61-year-old has already been jailed twice in the past for alleged tax evasion.
Bialyacki is the founder of Viasna, a leading human rights organisation operating in Belarus, and a key source of information on the repression.
Under Lukashenko’s regime, freedom of the press has disappeared.
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The monitoring group Reporters Without Borders says 39 journalists are being held in Belarusian prisons.
Two senior staff members of the independent news site Tut.by, editor Marina Zolotova and director general Lyudmila Chekina, were sentenced to 12 years in prison last year for “tax evasion” and “incitement to hatred”.
Their media outlets have been branded “extremist” by the authorities.
Journalist Andrzej Pochobut, an activist for Belarus’ Polish minority, was sentenced to eight years in prison in February 2023 amid rising tensions with Warsaw.
In 2021, Belarusian authorities forced a plane carrying opposition journalist Roman Protasevich to land in Belarus.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2023 but was later pardoned after recording a “confession” video – which his allies say was coerced – and a tearful interview that was aired on Belarusian state television.
Bar/NMC/FG
